Child of the Curse
by Zashire
Summary: Uzumaki Kushina never wanted to leave her child's side, not for a moment. She had never believed in ghosts, but that all changed the day she watched as Naru played with a toy... only to see the young blonde looking right back at her. FemNaru. Adoption fic
1. The Life Changing Moment

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of Kishimoto's characters or plot.

**A/N: **There will be no yuri or yaoi in this fanfic. Pairings undecided if any at all.

Child of the Curse  
Chapter 1: The Life-Changing Moment  
By: Zashire

The end of September was an exciting time for people in the village of Konoha. Autumn celebrations stretched from the beginning of the season at the equinox, all the way up until the tenth of October, otherwise known as the Day of Heroes. It was on that day that the Yondaime Hokage and hundreds of Konoha ninja gave their lives to defeat a great monster, known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune. They did this to secure the future of the village they served and loved.

A week-long festival would begin on the fourth of October, and continue up through the Day of Heroes. While the Yondaime was the central focus of this somewhat long event, no one ever forgot to honor the others who have died protecting the village that day. The Memorial Stone was always overcrowded during this period of time.

It was currently September twenty-fifth; the October Fest was still over a week off, but people all over Konoha were getting ready for it. Shopkeepers were setting prices and cleaning up their stores in an effort to attract the visitors from other parts of the country who would be attending the festival. It was the best time of the year for merchants to sell their products in Konoha, as well as the time when local hotels made the greatest portion of their yearly profits.

While the attention of shop owners was mainly on foreigners, they never forgot about the needs of the locals. Especially not the needs of the ninja force. Ninja spent large amounts of money on equipment and weapons, and no shopkeeper ever wanted to miss a chance to capitalize on such needs. Some shops were even specialized to suit ninja only. Civilians could still visit such stores, but the merchandise available was often of little use to them.

A young woman with long brown hair, which was tied back in a ponytail, let out a sigh as she paid for some new tripwire and explosive tags. The sun was beginning to set and she had been out shopping since noon. She hadn't needed much, but the lines at stores were long because of the foreigners who couldn't figure out the whole process of exchanging currencies. The young brunette had had to restrain herself on multiple occasions from strangling the couple in front of her with some of the tripwire she was buying. They were from Suna, meaning they spoke in a different dialect, so the process of successful haggling was extremely difficult.

"I'm sorry about that, Sayuri-chan," the shopkeeper apologized when the Suna couple was out of earshot.

The young woman smiled. "It's alright. This is how it always is during the Fest." She watched the lady place her items in a bag. "I just wish some people would plan their vacations better."

The shopkeeper nodded. "Will that be all?"

"Yes," Sayuri said as she paid for the items. "Thank you, Yumi-obasan!"

"You're very welcome, my dear. Tell your father I said hello," the older woman smiled. "I close at ten, so I should be home shortly after. See you later, Sayuri-chan."

The young brunette offered a smile, and then headed for the door. Once outside, she saw that it was much later than she thought it had been.

_I hope father won't be annoyed about me getting home so late_, she thought. She briefly considered taking to the roofs to make it home faster, but she really wanted to see all of the decorations before it became even harder to walk through the village as more people arrived. Besides, she could just blame the delay on the long lines at stores; it wasn't a complete lie. _He'll probably be working later than normal, considering all of the people that are arriving._

With that decided Sayuri turned to the left and wandered down the road through the marketplace. Every few stalls or so someone would try to get her to buy something she didn't want or need at an outrageous price, but once they recognized her, they would quickly stutter out an apology and try to offer her a sale on the item.

Sayuri groaned as she waved off yet another salesperson. Yes, she understood that they needed to make money, but really, couldn't they be a little less persistent?

She passed by a window and glanced in to see a beautiful kimono on display. It was a grand combination of autumn colors, from the brown linings to the deep reds and oranges that covered the outfit. She thought about trying it on, but continued on when she realized how much time she was wasting… and when she saw the price tag.

Sayuri came from a wealthy family, but she was by no means a spoiled brat. Her family had taught her to be humble at a young age-it was one of the things that led to her becoming so well-known throughout the village. She was nineteen years old, and stood at five foot seven inches tall, half of a foot shorter than her husband. She had married at the young age of eighteen, but had known the man who would become her husband since she was seven.

The life of a ninja was often a short one, she knew, and she never wanted to have any regrets, so that was how she lived her life. She was a Jounin of Konoha, and often wore the standard attire for someone of her rank. She loved her job almost as much as she loved her husband, which definitely said a lot about her dedication. Her mission record was clean and she was proud of it.

Her thought process was jerked to a halt when she heard a piercing scream cut through the noise of the crowd. It was her "day off," but she was still a ninja twenty-four seven. She was always there to help no matter what time of day it was.

Her jaw clenched as she sprinted over to the origin of the shrill noise. It hadn't sounded too far away.

It wasn't. A small group of people were gathered around the base of a building. Everyone in the group had their heads angled upward, a few of them even pointing. Sayuri followed their line of sight and saw a small child hanging onto… nothing? She dropped her bags and began to push through the gathered civilians.

_What the hell?_ was the only thought that crossed her mind as her body went into action automatically. As she worked her way through the crowd, she applied chakra to her feet. Soon, she was ascending the building. The child was about four stories off the ground, and would almost certainly die if he or she fell.

It took her a matter of seconds to reach the child. A moment before she reached the child, she saw his or her hands slip from whatever the child had been hanging onto. Thankfully, she managed to line herself up a few feet below the child so he or she fell right into her arms. Sayuri snaked her arms around the child protectively and tightened her grip, before she bounded of f the wall and landed on an adjacent roof.

She looked back at the building and saw a window just above where the child had been hanging. It was shattered, but she couldn't see anything inside from her vantage point because of the shadows caused by the setting sun.

Sayuri could hear some applause from below, but paid them no attention as she looked at the child in her arms. The young child looked like she-it was definitely a girl-was about four or five years old. She had blonde hair that was surprisingly bright, considering the state of malnourishment the child was obviously in. Sayuri bit her lip as she moved the child around in her arms because of how easily she could feel the little girl's ribs. It was sickening.

The child blinked her eyes open, only to meet the curious and sad gaze of Sayuri, who noted the piercing blue color of the child's eyes.

"Are you alright, little one?" the Jounin asked softly.

The young girl looked at her with wide eyes, but managed a small nod.

The blatant fear expressed by the child made Sayuri's heart clench. The young Jounin had seen comrades die on the battlefield, villages burn in the times of the Third Great War, and even other children die. The difference between those situations and the current one was that this one was happening _inside_ Konoha. _Inside her home_. Who in their right mind would do such a thing to a child? Konoha wasn't at war with anyone. There wasn't any sort of lack in the food department.

Sayuri glanced back at the building from which she had saved the child.

Konoha's West Orphanage? If this child was an orphan, why wasn't she healthy? Orphanages in Konoha were funded well; that she knew. But something was wrong. What was she not seeing?

And then it all clicked.

_So that is what father was talking about_, she thought. She looked back down at the little girl who was still staring up at her in fear.

"What are you gonna do to me?" the child's voice was empty and hollow.

It took all of Sayuri's will not to break down right then and there. She bit her lip in an effort to keep a level head. The little blonde sounded broken. _She thinks I'm going to harm her_, Sayuri swallowed.

She shifted the child into what she believed would be a more comfortable position. The blonde stiffened in her arms.

"I know this may be hard to do, but please trust me," Sayuri said. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm trying to help."

The little girl seemed to have mastered the art of showing no emotion. Her expression offered no clues as to what she was thinking.

Sayuri waited. "I'm going to take you to see a kind man now, alright?" she asked slowly.

The girl's eyes glanced around. "Are the meanies gone?"

Sayuri couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at that. The child was no longer wearing the blank expression. "Yes, sweetheart," she hugged the girl closer to her. "They are. I promise that no one is going to harm you anymore."

The child's mouth curved upward, if ever so slightly. "Thank you for catching me!" she cried as she firmly clutched onto Sayuri's shirt and buried her face into the Jounin's shoulder.

"You are so very welcome." She pulled the girl into a protective hug when she felt her shoulder getting wet because of the child's tears. "Please don't be scared. This will feel weird for a moment."

The blonde raised her head just before the pair disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

xxx

They arrived just outside the door leading into the Hokage Tower. Sayuri would have teleported them to the inside of the Hokage's office, but not only would that have been rude, but it would have also been impossible. Protective seals covered the Tower to prevent such things from happening. Though inconvenient for ninja, it served as a barrier to protect the Hokage, as well as any important diplomats staying in the Tower at the time.

Shifting the child to one arm, Sayuri opened the door and entered the administrative building. She walked up to the front desk.

"Is Hokage-sama in?" she asked the secretary.

"He has an appointment in-" she cut herself off when she looked up. "Oh, Sayuri-sama! He will be free to see you for the next fifteen minutes."

She would have groaned at the whole privilege thing if it weren't for the situation.

Shortly after the conversation, Sayuri was just outside the door to the Hokage's office. The ANBU guards nodded to her as she passed, and she offered them a quick nod in response.

The door to the Hokage's office was quite large. It was made of some rare type of wood that she could care less about, and the echo it caused was always surprising.

"Come in," a voice on the other side called, so she entered.

As she approached his desk, the Hokage looked up to meet her eyes.

"Sayu?" he called her by her nickname. She saw his eyes flicker to the child who was curled up in her arms, but still awake, judging by the pattern of her breathing. The older man's eyes widened. "What happened?" he asked as he got up from his chair and moved closer to her.

Sayuri glanced down. "You know who this is, right, father?"

Hiruzen nodded. "Uzumaki Naru."

The young girl's head snapped up, turning to face the Hokage.

"What happened?" he pressed.

"Can we sit down?" she asked, motioning toward the couch that was off to the right. Hiruzen nodded, so they walked over to the piece of furniture and took a seat.

The Jounin loosened her grip on the child. "To be brief, the orphanage has been abusing Naru." The blonde stiffened again, confirming the obvious. "Hold her for a moment," she told her father as she passed Naru over. The girl had other plans, however, and clung onto Sayuri tightly.

The nineteen-year-old met the young girl's gaze. "It's alright, Naru. I've known this man since I was born. He won't hurt you," she said as if Hiruzen wasn't even in the room.

The girl looked skeptical for a few moments, but eventually released Sayuri's shirt.

When Hiruzen held her, he felt sick. She was tiny for being almost five years old. She had to be four because the fifth annual October Fest was coming up, given that she had been born on the tenth of October the year the Kyuubi attacked.

Sayuri then recounted the events that had transpired, beginning at the point where she left her aunt's store, up through the moment where she had Naru in her arms on the roof of the building next to the orphanage.

By the end of the explanation, Hiruzen looked furious, though he did his best not to frighten the child in his arms.

"I will see to it that this facility be… investigated," he managed to grind out. He looked down to the little girl. "Naru-chan, can you tell me, to the best of your knowledge, why you were hanging from the window? What I mean is… how did you end up in such a situation?"

The small girl stared up at him in silence. "Mean kids took my friend. I asked them to give it back, but they wouldn't." She looked down. "I tried to grab my friend from mean kid, but he…"

The old Hokage and his daughter watched Naru as she trailed off. Sayuri shared a glance with her father. Hiruzen rubbed the young blonde's back soothingly.

"Don't lie," Naru said and covered her mouth with both of her hands. "Don't lie," she mumbled again.

Sayuri frowned as she reached over and lifted Naru's chin to meet her eyes. "Who told you that?"

For a moment, a look of pure terror crossed her face, but it was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Naru, please tell us," the Jounin said.

She looked directly into Sayuri's eyes. "People in charge. They hit me one time last year, but that's it." She bit her lip. "Cook lady always gave other kids more!"

"To eat?" the Jounin asked.

Naru nodded. "Mean kid hit me really hard after I tried to get my toy back. We wuz at top of stairs, and I fell down. Building is old, so window broke."

The brunette saw her father's fist clench.

"But Red saved me!" Naru finished, smiling brightly.

The two adults shared a look of confusion.

"Who is 'Red,' Naru?" Sayuri asked lightly, not wanting to completely ruin the girl's good mood.

Naru beamed. "My friend that no one else can see!"

_So she has an imaginary friend?_ It made sense. She had to get through the loneliness somehow. If she wasn't making any real friends, she would always have her imagination to turn to.

Neither of the two ninja present desired to point out what was obvious to them, so they kept quiet about the truth of the matter.

"That's awesome, Naru-chan!" Sayuri smiled. _But that still doesn't explain what I saw. I swear she was hanging onto air when I arrived at the scene. _The Jounin sighed. _Or I just couldn't see very well. The shadows from the building made it almost impossible to even see Naru._

The Hokage nodded and smiled as well. He couldn't resist the contagious grin of the four-year-old. She was just so darn cute. The fact that she could smile after having been underfed and pushed around for so long at such a young age was nothing short of amazing. He was deeply regretting having sent Naru to the orphanage in the first place. The other clans hadn't been very willing to take her in. The only one that expressed any interest in her was the Uchiha clan, but they had been acting suspicious, and the old Hokage had believed Naru would have had a better chance at the orphanage, and possibly being adopted into a loving civilian family.

He should have realized he couldn't throw her past out the window. It would always catch up with her, unfair as it was. He would have had the Sarutobi clan take her in, but the majority of his clan were ninja, and didn't have the time needed to commit to raising a child. When he took a step back and thought about it all, he really had just been trying to convince himself of something that could never really happen.

He had been keeping tabs on Naru occasionally, but his work always got the better of him. The ANBU files would either tell him that they saw the young blonde for a brief period of time, or just flat-out couldn't see a sign of her. And judging by the paleness of her skin, Naru probably hadn't been let outside very often.

But this time, it was an issue he couldn't ignore. He had betrayed his deceased successor's trust by letting the man's daughter be harmed. He had betrayed the trust of the child's mother, his children, and so many others by letting harm come to Naru.

It was high time he fixed his mistakes. His clan could easily afford to support Naru. The first order of business was to get Kari to fix up some _real_ food for this child.

Hiruzen brought himself out of his thoughts to see that Sayuri had reclaimed Naru and was goofing around with her by making funny faces. He smiled when he saw how Naru was laughing. She looked much happier than she had when his daughter first brought her in.

"I hate to be the one to interrupt such a touching moment, but I have a meeting that begins in three minutes," Hiruzen sighed. It was a hard fact of a ninja's life: work before family.

Sayuri nodded and looked down to Naru.

The blonde's eyes widened as tears formed in her eyes. "Do I have to go back?"

The Jounin stared with sadness in her eyes at the expression of the child. If they 'sent her back' to anywhere, it would definitely not be the orphanage of Konoha West. She had a feeling that her father would be ordering the close of that one, as well as the relocation of all the orphans living there. But who was to say that the same thing wouldn't happen to Naru elsewhere? Even if she wasn't ever hit, who was to say that she wouldn't lose even more weight than she already had?

_Well, technically, she never had the weight to begin with._ She was half tempted to run back to the orphanage and take her anger out on those that had starved Naru. _I wonder how they would like to starve, rotting away in a jail cell._ She tried her best to keep her thoughts in her head, and her anger in check.

_But what can I do to stop anything else from happening?_

It was at that moment that Sayuri made a decision that would impact her life for years to come.

She turned to face her Hokage.

"Father," she began, "With your permission, I would like to adopt Uzumaki Naru this evening."

Naru sat on Sayuri's lap, staring up at her in bewilderment.

Hiruzen stared at his daughter for a moment as well, but soon broke into a grin. "I was just about to suggest something along those lines, Sayu. I thought you might ask, but not until you had talked it over with Atsui. Take one of the guest rooms in our household and give it to Naru. You have my full-fledged support."

Before he could blink, Hiruzen was tackled to the back of the couch by two girls, one who was his daughter, and the other who he had just made his granddaughter. He wiggled his arms free and wrapped one around each of them in a group hug.

"Thank you, tou-san," Sayuri whispered.

"No, thank you, Sayu." His daughter pulled out of the hug, and quirked her head.

"Thank you? For what?" she asked.

"For helping me fix one of my mistakes." He smiled brightly. "And for giving me a granddaughter."

xxx

Sayuri walked toward the Sarutobi clan compound with Naru on her hip. Shortly after the group hug and adoption (which would be finalized later), the pair had been ushered out because of a meeting her father had with some important man she knew nothing about. The Tower wasn't too far from the compound, but Sayuri wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet with her newly-adopted daughter.

_It still feels weird saying it like that_, she thought. _I mean, yeah, it's true, but to think I'd adopt a child at the age of nineteen._ She knew Atsui wouldn't mind. In fact, he would probably be overjoyed at the thought of taking Naru in. She and her husband had wanted the Sarutobi clan to take the child in right after the Kyuubi attack, but understood the problems that could come with it.

Sayuri focused her attention back on Naru when she felt a tug on her shirt. Naru had been quiet for quite some time, always looking like she was trying to think of how to say something. It looked like she finally figured it out.

"CanIcallyoukaa-san?" she blurted out as fast as she possibly could.

The Jounin raised an eyebrow. "Care to repeat that? I'm sorry, but I couldn't understand you."

The little girl took a deep breath. "Can I… call you kaa-san?" She bit her lip when Sayuri said nothing. "If you don't want-"

Sayuri shook her head quickly. "No; I mean, it's fine." She smiled. "You can call me kaa-san."

Naru grinned, but then paused. "Who's Atsui?" She frowned. "Said name earlier."

"Well, since I'm your kaa-san," the brunette continued, "Atsui is your tou-san."

The blonde's eyes sparkled. "I have a mommy _and_ a daddy?" she asked in excitement.

Sayuri nodded in confirmation. "Are you happy with that?"

"Yes!" Naru cried. "I always heard that mommies and daddies make the bad stuff go away from the other kids! I always wanted one, but never thought I would get both! Thank you, kaa-san!"

Sayuri smiled down at Naru and wrapped her in a tight hug. She kissed the small girl's forehead. "If there is one true thing you've learned so far in life, it is what you just said. I promise you that nothing will ever lay a finger on you so long as Atsui and I are here to protect you."

At first, Naru's response to the affectionate gesture was to stiffen, but soon after, she melted into the hug and returned it. For the second time that day, the little girl cried into Sayuri's shoulder. This time, however, it was not into the shoulder of a strange ninja, but into the shoulder of a loving mother.

_Her_ loving mother.


	2. Explanations Are Harder Than They Look

Child of the Curse  
Chapter 2: Explanations Are Harder Than They Look  
By: Zashire

Kari sat down at a table in the kitchen of the Sarutobi compound's main household. She was the maid of the head family, but that didn't mean she had to work around the clock. At the moment, she was on her fifteen minute break from cleaning. Soon she would have to begin to cook dinner, but she still had about ten minutes of her break left.

_I wonder when Sayu will get home_, she pondered. Sayuri always volunteered to help her on the days she had off from her ninja duty. Earlier that day, Sayuri had offered to stop by the grocery store on her way home. Kari thought the young Jounin would have been home over an hour ago. She couldn't help but worry about the young girl, even though she knew Sayuri could very well protect herself if need be.

The maid was going on forty-five, and was a full ten years younger than the clan head. She had light brown hair and dark green eyes. Standing a few inches taller than Sayuri, she was never teased about her height in her youth.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the front door open and close. She looked to the doorway of the kitchen, which offered a perfect view of the entrance hall.

"Good evening, Sayu," Kari said as she got up from her seat.

"Evening, obasan!" she called back as she removed her sandals. While they weren't technically related, Kari had definitely earned a more endearing title than "servant" for all she had done for the girl.

Kari watched her enter the kitchen, and sent her a quizzical look when she saw the small blonde girl attached to her. Sayuri glanced down at Naru, who looked a little fearful of the "newcomer."

"I know this is sudden," the Jounin began, "but Naru-chan here is going to be staying with us."

Kari was confused, but as a maid, it wasn't her place to question the ones she served. Even though she and Sayu were close, there was a time and place for everything. Maybe the nineteen-year-old would explain the situation to her later. Kari looked the young blonde over and noted how pale and skinny she was.

She bit back her curiosity with a smile.

"Sounds great," Kari said. She reached across the kitchen counter for a container and pulled a cookie out. "It will be a while before dinner is ready," she told the young girl while flicking her eyes to Sayuri, who gave a sheepish grin in return, "so here is something for you to snack on."

Naru hesitated, but then took the offered treat and smiled brightly. Cookies were delicious! Especially the chocolate chip ones she used to sneak at the orphanage.

Kari noticed the hesitation, but said nothing about it. She was about to say something when a look of realization passed over Sayuri's face.

"Oh, yeah!" she said with wide eyes. Naru jumped at the sudden burst and stared up at her mother with equally wide eyes. "I, uh, kind of left—I mean, forgot… the food," she finished lamely. "Sorry, obasan."

Kari raised an eyebrow. "Did you remember anything?" she asked in disbelief. "You _were_ gone for over _five_ hours." Sayuri sent her another sheepish grin and she sweatdropped. Kari sighed. "Fine; I'll make something else. You can explain it all later. Run away for now," she said, waving her hand in a shooing motion.

Sayuri rolled her eyes at the childlike treatment. She sighed as she shifted Naru to her other hip. Before they had gotten back to the compound, she had offered to let Naru walk on her own. It was something that only served to make her clench her small hands into fists. She did not want to let go.

Sayuri was both amused and a little disturbed by the action. She liked how quickly the young blonde had come to accept her, but was troubled by the fact that Naru didn't feel safe unless she was in her arms.

_Give her a break_, she told herself. She had plenty of reason to not feel safe. She had never really been outside of the orphanage before, so what Sayuri had considered home her entire life was the equivalent of a foreign country in the eyes of Naru. _She has plenty of time to get to know Konoha_.

Just as the Jounin left the kitchen, she was pulled back to reality when something almost knocked her over by running into her leg. Her free arm snapped out in reaction, and caught the corner of the wall where the hallway opened up into the foyer. _Thank Kami for ninja reflexes_, she thought as she pulled herself and Naru back up. The little girl had snaked her arms around her mother's neck, and it was getting hard for Sayuri to breathe.

After she loosened the blonde's grip, the Jounin looked at the ground to see what had run into her.

"Owie," a young child groaned as he rubbed his head. He had hair that was as dark as Sayuri's, as well as matching eyes, Naru noted when she looked at the kid.

"Konohamaru?" Sayuri quirked an eyebrow. She squatted down, barely managing to find a way to hang onto Naru in the process, and ruffled the child's hair. "Are you alright?"

Despite the fact that he wasn't even two, Konohamaru was actually quite the chatterbox. He had a knack for picking up words… he just had a hard time putting them together.

"Good okay," he smiled up at Sayuri. "Dat?" he asked, pointing at the blonde.

Sayuri smiled. "This is Naru." The Jounin made Naru let go, despite her protests, and set her on the ground in front of Konohamaru. Naru still clung onto her mother's hand. "Why don't you say hi to her, Kono?"

The young child stood up and narrowed his eyes. He leaned in until he was nose to nose with the blonde, who gave him a confused look.

Sayuri rolled her eyes and pushed his head away. "Be nice," she said sternly.

"But obasan…!" he complained. He stared up at her, but pulled his eyes away when he saw her glare.

"Me Ko'maru!" he said bravely as he put his fists on his hips and puffed out his chest.

Naru just sat there, staring at the weird child. She felt her mother squeeze her hand, so she spoke up.

"I'm Naru… nice to meet you," she said with an awkward smile. Sayuri smiled down what looked like approval to Naru, so she smiled back.

"And your name is Ko_noha_maru, Kono," the Jounin said, laughing lightly.

Konohamaru crossed his arms, suddenly finding the ceiling very interesting. Naru giggled at the bright, embarrassed blush that crossed his face. He frowned and pointed at her.

"No laugh!" He then pointed at Sayuri. "No laugh!"

This only served to make the two laugh even harder. Sayuri looked at Naru and saw how happy she looked. It brightened the mood considerably to not have her looking fearful, or even blank. She seemed to be getting better at opening up to people as the day progressed.

_I don't think Kono counts_, Sayuri giggled. _It's hard for anyone _not_ to like him_.

"I was wondering when you would get home," a voice said from the second floor. Naru looked to see a man walking down the staircase that was attached to the foyer. As he reached the bottom, she was able to better see what he looked like.

Sayuri stood up when she saw him come. He was at least a head taller than her, probably well over six feet tall. Despite his height, he was a lean man. He was muscular, but didn't have a very big frame. He was a lot like his father in both looks _and_ brains. The man had hair and eyes that were the same shade of brown—some genes were too dominant—and matched those of Sayuri and Konohamaru. His outfit was nothing out of the ordinary… just standard Jounin clothing, much like Sayuri's.

"Nii-san," Sayuri greeted and reached over to give him a light hug. "I thought you were on a mission."

He welcomed her embrace and smiled. "Actually, I just got back."

"Tou-san!" Konohamaru launched himself at the man.

Before the child could knock him over, the man swiftly picked him off the ground. "Hey, Kono, you've been good to Sayu and Kari, right?"

"Yep!" he chirped. Then, he twisted around in his father's arms and pointed at the other child in the room. "Dat Naru!"

Naru felt very awkward at suddenly being the center of everyone's attention. She looked up at the man curiously to see if she could tell what he thought of her. She watched as his smile briefly disappeared. It was back not a moment later, but in that moment, she felt like something was seriously wrong. His change in expression reminded her of the times when couples that were looking to adopt a child would pass through the orphanage. They would smile at the children they passed, but when their eyes landed upon her, something cold would flash through their eyes. Sometimes they would express outright hatred, but she never understood why.

When Sayuri had proclaimed she would adopt her, she had been overjoyed by the fact that she would have a mother to protect her from those glares and mean looks. She had fully believed that she would never encounter something like it again. Looks like she'd been wrong. It was foolish to believe that something like an adoption would be the answer to all of her problems. Those looks would follow her everywhere. _It doesn't matter what I do_, she thought miserably._ They're always there_.

The man was surprised when he saw the child's sad eyes bore into his. He tried to break the ice that was forming in between them. "Nice to meet you, Naru," he said, the kindness in his voice sounded forced. He mentally slapped himself for it. He hadn't meant for it to come out like that.

A bitter look crossed Naru's face. Sayuri glared at her brother, and then looked to the children.

"Kono, why don't you show Naru your toys?" she suggested.

Konohamaru let out an excited noise, while Naru looked torn. She wanted to stay with her mother, but at the same time, wanted to get away from the strange man. Her mother bent down to reassure her, and before she knew it, Konohamaru had jumped down from his father's arms and was dragging her by the hand toward the kitchen.

When the kids were out of sight, Sayuri turned to her brother and sighed. "Let's go sit down."

He gave her a strange look, but followed her down the hallway toward what they considered their living room. The room was meant for informal gatherings. It contained several sofas, as well as a low table in the center of it all where people could put their drinks or snacks. Off to the side were a few toys that Konohamaru had forgotten to put away. It all helped to break any sort of stiff atmosphere.

Sayuri took a seat on one of the sofas, while her brother sat on the one to her left.

It was silent for a few moments.

"You know, Kazuhito, I don't think I've ever seen someone your age have problems greeting a four-year-old," she snorted.

Kazuhito sighed. "I've seen some of your reactions when you're caught off-guard," he retorted. "They aren't that much better than mine."

"Point," Sayuri huffed.

"So, care to explain the situation?" he asked in some annoyance.

She leaned forward a bit and explained her day once more. As she recounted the events, she would occasionally note the expressions on Kazuhito's face. The man could really be an icicle when he wanted to, but he actually managed to show some emotion when he heard about the condition of Naru.

"Sounds like you've had an exciting day," he observed.

"You could say that." Her eyebrow twitched.

"Never thought my little sister would be a mother at nineteen," he said. "Funny how I learned about all this before Atsui."

"He's on patrol today, Kazu." She rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad. And technically, you're her uncle; you might want to try and get off on the right foot next time you see her."

"Sorry for being surprised at seeing your sensei's daughter."

"Whatever; it's fine," Sayuri said. "Just be careful when you're around her. She's really observant."

"I hadn't noticed," he deadpanned.

She crossed her arms.

"Hello?" a voice called.

"Well, that was oddly convenient," Kazuhito noted as he stood up. "I swear Atsui's one of the most clueless people on the planet."

"Is not!"

"Would you like to prove that?"

Sayuri rolled her eyes again before getting up. She headed for the door, not exactly caring if her brother was following her or not, and went into the hallway.

"Hey, Atsui! Over here!" she called back.

A few moments later, a man in black armor appeared before her. She yelped in surprise, but was silenced when the man pulled her into a kiss. It didn't last very long, but it was enough to make her happy.

"Please don't do that," she said when her heart rate was back to normal.

"I'll think about it," he replied, making no promises.

"Did you tell him about his daughter yet?" Kazuhito inquired as he exited the living room.

"What?" Sayuri asked, turning to her brother.

"Daughter?" Atsui looked to the male Jounin.

Kazuhito nodded. "Yep."

"Wait," Sayuri tried to explain.

"She's been meaning to tell you…" Kazuhito trailed off.

"No, that's not it," she interrupted.

"Quite a serious matter, actually," her brother explained.

"Kazu!" she complained.

"I told her she should tell you first, but she insisted on telling me."

"Sayu?" Atsui said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Huh?"

"She might have been shy," Kazuhito suggested.

"Of her own husband?"

"Well, this is your first child…"

"True, but that still…"

"Hey!"

"Now, now, nee-chan, he has a right to know."

"But I—"

"Sayu, I thought we—"

"Come now, Sayu. If he is to be responsible, he must know."

"Yes, Sayu. I mean, if it's money you're worried about, I make enough in ANBU to support us all."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"I don't need to stop being a ninja!"

"But according to the ninja code… not to mention common sense—"

"Kari-obasan and Yumi-obasan can always help."

"Well, yes, but not until _after_ she's born—"

"He does have a point."

"Kazu! You're not helping!"

"Well, he _is_ Kono's dad. He could give us some advice…"

"At least _someone_ respects me."

"Gah! You're all hopeless!"

"I beg to differ."

"It's not hopeless, Sayu. We'll get through this—"

"Get through what? Nothing's happening!"

Atsui's eyes widened. "Don't be rash! Let's just calm down—"

"I am calm!"

"She's having mood swings already?"

"GAH!"

"… She's _your_ wife."

"And she's _your _sister!"

"Ah, touché."

"This can't be good for our daughter."

"No, not at all. I hear stress can—"

"And I'm not stressed!"

"Sayu, I think Kazu has a point…"

"I give up!"

"Wait, what?"

"You don't think she's considering—"

"An abortion? Sayu, please!"

"I really think you two should talk this over before making any rash decisions…"

"I swear I'm going to kill you, Kazu."

"Fratricide is frowned upon in Konoha, you know."

"You would get along really well with this guy named Kakashi."

"He's right, and I know that guy… But that's not the point!"

"Kazu, when I talked to you, I said one thing that would clear up this _whole_ situation. Do you remember what it was?"

"No, do you?"

"Gah!"

"Oh! Was it that I would be her uncle?"

"Well, that is quite obvious, seeing as he _is_ your brother, Sayu…"

"Adoption! _That _was what I said."

"So you guys will be having _two_ kids? Wow! You'll be one up on me!"

"We're having two kids, Sayu? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we're not!"

"You're having kids with someone else?"

"Sayu! How could you?"

"No! _We're_ just _adopting_ _one_! You and me! Ignore Kazu!"

"You hurt me so."

"Wait, does that mean…" Atsui looked confused. "You're not pregnant?" he asked Sayuri.

"What?" She looked back to her husband. "No—I mean yes! I'm _not_ pregnant. I adopted a child."

He sighed. "You really need to be clearer about these things, Sayu. For a second there, I thought—"

"Atsui, come upstairs with me and I'll explain it." She glared at Kazuhito. "You! I'll give you ten seconds to get the hell out of here!"

All he did was laugh and walk around them. As he passed, he ruffled his sister's hair.

"You've got a _long_ way to go before you can boss _me_ around, squirt," he said with a smile. "I've got ten years on you."

He walked off. Sayuri dragged her husband in the other direction despite his protests.

And just before she was out of earshot…

"Oh, yeah: point made."

Sayuri spent that night dreaming about all of the painful ways she could and would make Kazuhito suffer.

xxx

A/N: This chapter was meant to introduce all of the main characters... Well, most of them anyway. I have no idea _where_ that last half came from. Oh, yeah! I fixed the last chapter. I meant to say Sayuri was married at eighteen, not sixteen. Minor detail, but whatever. By the way, the shopkeeper in the last chapter is Yumi... she's Hiruzen's sister in my story. I'll elaborate on that later.

Please leave a review. :3

Zashire


	3. The Day of Heroes

Child of the Curse  
Chapter 3: The Day of Heroes  
By: Zashire

The two weeks immediately following Naru's adoption went by in a flash. In that time, the young blonde got to know her new family, as well as the layout of her new home. It was quite a large household, and it took her a few days to memorize where even some of the most basic rooms were. She didn't bother trying to remember where all of the rooms for formal meetings were located—that was unimportant and completely unnecessary. All she needed to know was the location of her room, her mother's room, the bathroom, and the kitchen.

That didn't mean she didn't like to explore on occasion.

It was boring when the only people that were always in the house was your made and your cousin—the latter being the one who slept for over half the day, including a two hour nap around noon. Sure, her mother and father were home often, but Sayuri could only pull so many strings with the Hokage. She could only take so many days off.

After a week of no missions, Naru's grandfather had told her mother that she would have to go back to work if she wanted to remain a Jounin. While Naru didn't understand the whole "mission" thing, she did realize that they would take her mother away from her for a few days—something she did not want to happen.

It had taken Sayuri a while to calm Naru down when she said she would be leaving for the day. She had talked her father into giving her a day-long mission, but Naru didn't want to accept even that. It hurt Sayuri to see the young girl cry like that, but she had been running late. Thankfully, Atsui had been there to help. His patrol shift hadn't started until three o'clock that afternoon, so he was available for the better part of the day.

Up until that point, Atsui had been in an out of the house too much for Naru to have a chance to actually meet him. That day fixed all of those problems. When Sayuri had gotten Naru to let go, she had turned her over to her husband. He was surprisingly good with children, and had gotten her talking within minutes, allowing her to forget her sadness at watching her mother leave.

That night, around seven o'clock, Sayuri had found Naru helping Kari make a dessert in the kitchen, while Konohamaru played with some of his toys in his playpen. Naru had launched herself at the female Jounin as soon as she laid eyes on her, forgetting about the flour that covered the front side of her body.

Sayuri had had to change shortly afterward.

The young girl had been ecstatic to see her mother again and instantly began to tell the older woman about her day. She had gotten closer to her father after Sayuri left that morning, she had played with Konohamaru a lot, and had begun learning how to cook from Kari after dinner. Sayuri was happy that her daughter had such a great day without her there. While it was good for the young girl to create attachments with others, she had to be a little more open. She had to be able to be flexible, and allow the ones she was attached to some room to move.

A few days following that, Hiruzen had gotten around to finalizing the adoption. Uzumaki Naru no longer existed on paper—from that point on, she was Sarutobi Naru. Sayuri had decided to take the family out to dinner that night for a mini-celebration. Naru was amazed by the sheer amount of food that the restaurant had on the menu; she had never seen anything related to food so extensive and detailed.

After the celebration, Atsui had shown her a book that was filled with pictures of animals. He had asked her to point out the one she liked best. After twenty minutes of consideration, she pointed to a furry animal with an oddly pointed face.

Atsui couldn't help but smile at the irony. It was a fox.

Naru hadn't understood why her father had shown her the book until a few days later on the tenth of October.

When she woke up that morning, she sat up and crawled out of her large bed—the size of which she could still not wrap her mind around. Her clock read six-thirty, and while for most people that time was considered unreasonably early, Naru had been waking up around that time since she was brought to the Sarutobi compound. She liked to get up before the sun came up because she never wanted to miss watching it rise. It reminded her that every morning was the dawn of a new day, and for some reason, the knowledge of that was refreshing to her.

It was also why she liked the color orange. The sky would go from the dark blue of night, to a bright pink, up until the sun rose over the horizon, which was when a band of orange would stretch across the sky just above it. It made her feel happy… bright colors seemed to have that effect on her.

When she entered the kitchen a few minutes later, she saw Kari and Atsui. The maid was at the counter, working on breakfast, while her father was sitting at the small table in the center of the kitchen. His chin was resting in his hands, while his eyes were staring intently at the outside world that could be seen through a sliding glass door. A mug full of black coffee sat by his right elbow.

Atsui was slightly shorter than Kazuhito, but was still over six feet tall. He often teased Sayuri about her height, even though she really wasn't all that short. His hair was raven black while his eyes were a piercing blue. Sayuri had commented on how similar they were to Naru's, though his were a bit darker. He had experienced many things that had probably dulled them over the years. Naru was only five; she hadn't experienced the cruelties of life yet, and Atsui hoped he could help keep it that way for many years to come.

He was on his third year in ANBU, and would turn twenty-one in the coming November. Oddly enough, his porcelain mask was that of a raven. It fit his looks well enough.

When Naru moved toward him, Atsui looked over his shoulder.

"Morning, Naru," he said lazily. He covered his mouth with a hand as he let out a yawn.

"Hi, tou-san," the little girl replied as she climbed into a chair next to his.

Every morning they followed a routine similar to this. Kari and Atsui were always the first ones up—Kari because she was the maid and Atsui because he often had to leave before sunrise for missions—and Naru was a close third. Atsui and Naru would talk about various things as they waited for breakfast to be made. They would often help Kari prepare the meal, despite the fact that she said it was _her_ job to do it. Atsui would always snort and continue on helping.

Today, however, was not one of those days. It was October tenth, meaning it was also the Day of Heroes. Aside from high-priority missions and patrolling, no missions were given out that day. There would be a great festival that night to honor the dead as wells as to celebrate the end of the week-long October Fest. It would be hard to sleep after the festival because of all the noise, and it sucked for those ninja who had to get up early the following morning to resume their duties.

Atsui grinned at the thought. He had lucked out—no patrol duty for the festival, and no missions on the eleventh. It was then that another thought popped up.

"Happy birthday, Naru," he smiled and ruffled her hair. It was pretty long, he noted. Sayuri had told him she fixed it up, but he guessed that didn't mean cutting it. It was definitely a lot less messy and tangled than when she had first entered the compound two weeks ago.

Naru's eyes widened momentarily. "I forgot about that," she mumbled. Then she grinned. "Thanks."

He nodded and sat back in his chair.

"Oh, yes! Happy birthday, dear!" Kari called over her shoulder.

"Thanks!" Naru chirped.

"So, anything you want to do today before the festival tonight?" Atsui asked his daughter.

Naru quirked a brow in confusion.

"It's your birthday," he explained. "You get to choose what we do today. Anywhere you want to go? Eat?"

The young girl was surprised at being presented with so many options. It was like the time at the restaurant a few nights back. She wasn't used to having such a say in what happened to her. Back at the orphanage, the caretakers had a schedule laid out for everyone, and she followed it. They had never asked her what _she_ wanted to do.

"Well," she began, "that place you took me to when kaa-san was on that mission had yummy food. Think it was called ramon…?"

"Ramen," he corrected. He heard Kari sigh. "And that's my girl!"

Anyone who knew Atsui knew that he was a ramen addict. Kari had theorized that the reason why he came home so late sometimes was because he was skipping the meals she made in order to stop at that darn ramen stand.

"So, would you like to go to Ichiraku's for lunch today?" he asked.

"Sure?" she responded, a little uncertain. She let out a surprised yelp when Atsui let out a pained one after Kari whacked him over the head with a wooden spoon.

"Don't be a bad influence on her! Ramen will stunt her growth if she eats too much of it!" the maid chastised.

"Oh, please," Atsui shot back. "I've been eating the stuff my whole life. I'm six feet tall, if you—"

She raised the spoon again, instantly quieting the fearsome ANBU.

"Fine, fine," he mumbled.

Naru stared at the scene before her in bewilderment.

But at the same time she found herself being unable to hold back a sigh.

xxx

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Naru-chan! Happy birthday to you!" came a chorus of voices.

Everyone that lived in the main household of the Sarutobi clan was gathered around the small table in the kitchen. A few foldable chairs were brought in to seat the people who hadn't managed to grab one of the original four that surrounded the table. It really didn't matter all that much, seeing as most of the guys were standing.

Naru sat in a chair that had two balloons tied to the back; one read 'Happy Birthday!' while the other had the number five on it. On the table before the young blonde was a frosted cake that had five candles on it that Naru had just blown out.

Everyone clapped and smiled when the last candle went out. Naru grinned when her father ruffled her hair after that.

"So, who wants ice cream?" Kari asked as she stood up. Konohamaru immediately jumped up at that and begged for the sweets. Naru soon followed, as well as a few of the adults, but in a much more orderly fashion.

When the cake had been cut and served, and the ice cream given to those who wanted it, Konohamaru shoved a picture into Naru's hands. It was a drawing of them playing on the kitchen floor while Kari was cooking in the background; she was drawn in orange, and he in blue. Across the top he scribbled, in barely legible handwriting, "Happy Birthday, Naru-neesan!"

She reached over and hugged him for it, saying how much she loved it. During the two weeks she had been living in the compound, Konohamaru had been one of her only constants. While he _did_ sleep a lot, whenever he was awake, he was practically attached to her. Even though he had only known her a short amount of time, he was beginning to think of her as an older sister. She always played with him, and actually found the childish games enjoyable, even though they were meant for babies. When she was younger, she hadn't had any toys besides her stuffed fox to play with—something she hadn't been given until she was three years old. It was fun to play with the things she had been previously denied.

The next gift she received was from Kari; it was a roll of cookie dough. Naru brightened when she saw this. She had been helping Kari in the kitchen while her parents were on missions, and had taken a liking to cooking.

"I'll help you make them sometime," Kari said with a smile. Naru grinned and thanked her for the gift.

Sayuri gave her daughter a few books that she promised she would help her learn how to read since Naru seemed to have virtually no grasp on it. She could comprehend basic sentences, but when it came to longer books, she was helpless.

Kazuhito's gift came in a large gift bag. Naru was stunned by the sheer size of it. When she opened it, she found a large blanket inside. Her uncle helped her spread it out so she could see the design.

"Winter's coming, and Atsui told me you liked foxes," he said with a smile. The fox on it was a dark brown, while the rest of it was themed for the season. Naru nodded excitedly and wrapped the blanket around her. She was amazed by how soft and fuzzy it was.

Atsui took that as his cue and presented the young blonde with an orange colored fox stuffed animal. Naru's eyes widened as she took the fuzzy toy into her hands. It looked almost identical to the one she lost at the orphanage.

"Thank you, tou-san!" she beamed, and got up to wrap her small arms around him.

"You're welcome, Naru," he smiled back and ruffled her hair again.

It was then that Hiruzen cleared his throat.

"Might we move to the other room? I couldn't ruin my gift to Naru by folding it," he explained as he rose from his chair.

Everyone but Sayuri gave him a confused look, but complied. Atsui lifted Naru off the chair and carried her to the living room, just behind his wife and Hiruzen.

The Hokage told them all to wait while he went to get the present from upstairs, but Sayuri volunteered to go grab it instead.

When she came back down, she was holding what was probably the most beautiful piece of clothing Naru had ever seen in her life.

"Is that… for me?" she asked. Sayuri held a small kimono in her hands. It was a light purple in color, and had a long pattern of flowers that covered it. Many of the flowers were a light shade of pink, while a few were other various colors, like light green and white.

"I thought you might need something to wear to the festival tonight," her grandfather said from behind her and Atsui. The young ANBU set her down, allowing her to thank the old man with a great big hug.

"It's so pretty! Thank you, ojiisan!" Naru exclaimed in a muffled voice, her head buried in his white robes.

Hiruzen had had to go into the office for a few hours that day, but had managed to get off in the early afternoon, around two o'clock. He had missed the lunch at Ichiraku's, but had made it to the house for the cake following the ramen.

"You're quite welcome," he replied, hugging her back.

It was by far the best birthday she'd ever had.

xxx

"Are you all ready to go?" Sayuri called from the foyer.

Naru stood at her mother's side in her brand-new kimono, waiting with her as everyone finished changing into their formal clothes for the festival. Kari wouldn't be attending the festival; she said she was too tired, and still had a lot of work to do before the day was through. Naru felt bad that the maid wasn't able to go. She would have liked to spend the evening with her.

"If you aren't all down here in the next five minutes, Naru and I are leaving without you! It's going on four-thirty!" Sayuri called again. She was dressed in a light brown kimono that she had apparently worn to the festival last year. Orange and red leaves, as well as the occasional yellow one, looked like they were blowing up from her lower right leg, all the way up to her left shoulder. The outfit was complete with a dark red obi and an autumn hair clip. Both Sayuri's and Naru's hair were pulled up in odango styles (like Tenten's hair), though the female Jounin said it looked cuter on the little blonde, which caused Naru to blush.

A few moments later, the four males in the family came rushing down the staircase. They all wore standard outfits, while Konohamaru was dressed in a small hanten (jacket) because of the cold weather.

_I swear these festivals were created just to allow women a chance to dress up_, Kazuhito thought when he saw his sister waiting by the front door.

"Now that you're all here, let's _go_!" She pushed through the door, leading the way to the entrance of the compound.

The other adults knew better than to question her, so they followed along quietly.

xxx

Festivals in the village of Konoha were always grand. The sheer size of the place meant that there was plenty of room for people to set games and food stands up. It was also a good way to keep the economy strong. What better way to make money than by attracting foreign visitors and allowing them so many opportunities to splurge.

The Day of Heroes festival was by far the greatest one of all. Occasionally, fireworks would be set off, though the "official" ones wouldn't be until later in the evening. Some volunteers would tell the story of the great Yondaime Hokage and how be brought about the defeat of the Kyuubi.

Naru and her new family started out by visiting the Memorial Stone. The place was crowded, but the stone was still accessible. When they reached it, Kazuhito, Atsui, and Hiruzen all bowed their heads in prayer while Konohamaru sat on the ground, picking random blades of grass and blowing them away.

Sayuri explained the purpose of the stone to Naru in a whisper. It was hard since they hadn't taken the time to explain the whole Kyuubi event to her beforehand. Hell, the little girl didn't even really know what the whole "Hokage" thing was. She had learned some in the orphanage, but classes there really didn't start until the children were older.

"It's basically a way for people to honor and remember the dead," she explained. "We all knew some people that died that night," she finished, ending on a vague note.

Naru nodded, accepting the explanation. She bowed her head, but kept one eye a crack open, waiting for the others to do something. She really didn't know what she was supposed to do, so she stood still and watched Konohamaru play with the grass to pass the time.

After a few minutes, they all finished and raised their heads again. Kazuhito picked his son up, while Naru reached for Sayuri's hand. It was hard to be carried while wearing a kimono, so she had to walk.

It took a while for them to leave since they had the Hokage in their company. Every way they turned someone tried to stop them to have a talk. They eventually managed to slip out of the crowd and into the nearby forest.

Sayuri couldn't help but laugh when Hiruzen sighed at all the attention. Such was the life of a leader.

Naru was amazed by her grandfather's popularity. She looked around the Memorial Stone. _I've never seen so many people in one place before_, she thought with wide eyes.

Kazuhito had apparently read her mind. "You haven't seen anything yet, kiddo. Wait till we get to the Village Centre."

Naru's eyes widened even more. _How are there so many people in one village?_

Faster than Naru's eyes could follow, a man clad in black gear appeared by her grandfather's side. She squeaked in both fear and surprise, and clung onto her mother's kimono. Sayuri chuckled and put a hand around the little girl's shoulders.

"It's alright, Naru," she whispered in comfort. Naru still clung onto the Jounin's outfit.

The man leaned over to Hiruzen and said something that she couldn't hear.

"Do you have to leave already?" Sayuri whined.

"I'm afraid so," Hiruzen said. "I need to meet with the Council before I make the remembrance speech, among other things. I'm sorry for not being able to attend the festival with you all." He then turned to Sayuri and Naru. "You both look beautiful in your kimono," he said with a smile. Naru blushed at the compliment.

"Well, I best be going now. I'll see you all back at the house after the festival. If you happen to see my sister Yumi, please say hello for me." He waved to his family before taking to the trees to get around the crowd. After the speech, he would go out again in public, but there were other matters that he needed to attend to first with the Council that had to do with the festivities.

Atsui sighed. "So, you kids want to play some games?"

Naru and Konohamaru immediately perked up at that.

"Yes, please!" they exclaimed in unison.

Sayuri and Kazuhito smiled at their enthusiasm, and began to lead the way to the heart of the village, where most of the events were taking place.

xxx

The following hours at the festival went by surprisingly quickly for Naru. The games had been a lot of fun, as had watching the reenactment of the Kyuubi attack. Like everyone else, she cheered when the Yondaime, standing atop the great toad Gamabunta, delivered the final blow with some mystical ninjutsu, resulting in the death of the great demon. She was amazed by the story, and wondered how it was that a human being took down such a powerful and evil spirit.

No wonder there was a festival as a result of his victory. He had saved the entire village of Konoha that night. Though he did die at the end of the battle, he had spared the lives of thousands of civilians, as well as hundreds of ninja. Naru could see why he became a legend.

After the play and games, it was almost seven o'clock. The group decided to try and find an empty place where they could sit and eat dinner, and just barely managed to find one near a fountain in the Centre.

Kazuhito volunteered to stay at the table with Konohamaru to make sure no one took it. He told Sayuri what he and his son would eat so she could get it for him.

As Atsui, Sayuri, and Naru wandered through the many different stands, Naru couldn't help but notice that something felt off. She looked around, her eyes scanning the crowd of faces. That was when she noticed that some people were glaring at her.

She unconsciously clenched her hand around Sayuri's. The female Jounin was walking in between Atsui and her daughter, and couldn't help but notice how tense the young girl had become. Her eyes flickered from side to side.

_I should have guessed_, she thought. She used her free hand to tap Atsui's hand. He met her eyes and then glanced around, getting the message. He slowed down and walked around to Naru's other side. The little girl looked up at him in confusion, her focus on the crowd suddenly broken.

"It's alright," Atsui said with a warm smile. She didn't need to ask what he was talking about. She understood and took his offered hand. It was one of the beautiful things about having a family: messages could be understood without a word being said.

Before she knew it, Naru was being swung forward with each step her parents took. She laughed in joy with each swing, the glares of the crowd replaced by the smiles and laughter of her parents.

xxx

It took them almost an hour to eat dinner because they all had so much to talk about. When Sayuri had asked Naru what she wanted to eat, the little girl had immediately said ramen. Atsui laughed, saying "That's my girl!" while Sayuri settled for just groaning at how hopeless they were.

She had voted for sushi, but finally caved in after she experienced the never-ending begging of _both_ Naru and Atsui.

Kazuhito had laughed at his sister's helpless expression when the trio came back with bowls of ramen.

"_It's only because it's Naru's birthday!" she explained. "It's never going to happen again—got it?" She glared at her husband and daughter, who nodded passively as they continued to eat their dinner. Sayuri groaned. "Kami help me if Konohamaru ever starts to like ramen."_

_Kazuhito nearly choked on his food. "Don't even joke about that!" he said in horror._

"_It'd make you to feel my pain."_

"Kaa-san!" Naru called as walked down a street that connected Konoha Centre to the Sarutobi compound. They had finished dinner, and it was going on eight-thirty. Konohamaru was dozing off, so they were heading back home for the night.

"Yes, Naru?" Sayuri responded, looking away from a shop window.

"Can I get a snack from over there?" she asked, pointing at a food stand that was selling dango.

"Not that you need it, but fine," Sayuri replied. The Jounin looked over to the stand and wasn't that interested. But then her eye caught one a few stands down. "They're selling mochi!" she said excitedly.

Atsui just sighed.

Sayuri turned to the others. "Why don't you guys head back to the compound? Naru and I will get there in a bit."

"Fine, fine." He sighed again. "Just don't get lost," he added jokingly.

"I can practically see the compound from here," she huffed.

Atsui waved it off and took Kazuhito on ahead, leaving a pouting Sayuri and a confused Naru behind.

The Jounin then pulled some money out and handed a bit to Naru.

"I'm going to go to that stand," she said, pointing to one that was three away from the dango one. "I'll come get you when I'm done, 'kay?"

"Yep!" Naru chirped. "Thank you!" She took the offered ryo and ran over to stall.

"Excuse me, mister," she said when she came up to the counter.

"Just a moment," the older man behind the counter said as he stood up. "What would you like—" he paused when he saw the little girl.

"May I please have some dango?"

His lip curled into a snarl. "My business isn't open to _demons_," he spat.

Naru's jaw clenched out of surprise and fear.

"Now, if you would get out of the way, I have other customers to attend to," he said in an arrogant voice.

Naru looked around. "But, mister, there's no one else here."

He completely ignored her in favor of cleaning an already spotless counter.

She stood there for a few moments before trying again.

"May I please—"

"Get away!" he growled, slamming a hand down on the table. Naru stared at him with wide eyes. She couldn't help herself from shaking in fear, nor could she stop a few tears that welled up in her eyes. "Or I'll—"

"Or you'll _what_?" came the words of a familiar voice.

Naru watched as the man's eyes left her and looked over her head instead. She followed his gaze and saw Sayuri approaching the stall.

"Sayuri-sama—," he began.

"Excuse me, but what demon are you talking about?" she cut him off. "All I see here is a little girl that wants to buy some sweets. Certainly you wouldn't deny a five-year-old a treat; I mean she _is_ going to pay for it."

The man flushed in embarrassment. "Right away, Sayuri-sama." He turned to face Naru again, who looked startled. "What would you like, little… _girl_?"

"Uh… a st-stick of da-dango, puh-please," she stuttered out. The man forced a nod and gave her the stick she wanted in a small paper bag. She handed a few ryo notes to him, which he took.

"Th-thank you," she stammered, before turning around and grabbing Sayuri's hand.

The man said nothing in response, and turned back to his cleaning.

Sayuri scowled and began to lead Naru away. After a few steps, she looked back over her shoulder.

"Work on your attitude toward children. Not only did you make a five-year-old cry on her birthday, but you also insulted the granddaughter of Sandaime Hokage-sama." She didn't even bother looking at his reaction. Hearing one curse escape his mouth was enough.

Naru looked up at her in surprise as they walked away from the stand, a few tears still running down her face.

Sayuri didn't meet her daughter's eyes as she led them away. Instead of heading home, she brought Naru over to a park bench, well away from the man's food stand.

She helped Naru onto the bench and then kneeled down in front of her, finally making eye contact.

"I'm sorry, Naru," she apologized. "It was stupid of me to let you go there by yourself after seeing all the people glare at you earlier."

Sayuri reached over and used her thumb to wipe the tears off Naru's face. It was a pointless effort because more came a moment later. Naru dropped her dango on the bench and reached forward, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. Sayuri smiled sadly and hugged her back.

The silence only lasted for a moment. A sob escaped Naru and her body began to shake.

"Why ca-call me demon?" she cried. "Why glare at me?" Her crying grew louder.

Sayuri rubbed her back in a circular motion. "Shh, shh," she whispered in a soft tone.

It wasn't fair that Naru had to deal with all the hatred. She was only five years old, and already people were treating at her as if she were some rabid animal. It was sick. First, they didn't feed her. Now, they didn't even want to see her. In their eyes, she was either hated, or just didn't exist.

_And it's all happening inside home_, Sayuri thought as she looked down at the top of the young girl's head. _It's not fair_.

After a few minutes, Naru stopped crying, and would only hiccup occasionally. She leaned backwards to sit up straight on the bench.

"Why am I a demon?" she asked again. "Is it because of my scars?" She pointed to the three whisker marks on each side of her face.

"Naru," Sayuri began, "I don't care what _anyone_ says. You are _not_ a demon. You never have been and you never will be."

"Then why did he call me that?" she shouted, earning a few glances from people passing by.

"He doesn't understand." Sayuri frowned. "None of them understand how special and important you are. They're just blind fools."

"She's right."

Before Naru could blink, Sayuri had a kunai in her hand. They heard a light laugh as a figure dropped down from the tree above them.

"Atsui!" the Jounin accused, putting the kunai away.

"Sorry for the scare," he apologized. "And I didn't know you were still wearing your holster."

"You never know when you'll need it," she defended herself.

Atsui nodded and sat down on the bench next to Naru.

"As I was saying, your mother's right," he continued. "Never believe what any of them say. They're wrong." He leaned back and let out a sigh, two pairs of eyes on him. "To put it bluntly: people are stupid. They judge things and people based on what they've heard, not what they actually seen. If you tell them something is bad, it's bad. Bad opinions are easy to create; it's the good ones that are the hardest to spread. It's easier to blame than it is to admit that you did something wrong. That's why people are treating you as they do. It's easier for them to take their anger out on you than it is for them to think of a different way to show it. Don't let what others think of you determine how you think of yourself."

Naru got the basic idea of what he was trying to say. "But why _me_?" she pressed.

Sayuri looked at Atsui in nervousness. He met her eyes briefly and then looked around to see people passing by.

"Let's go to the Hokage Monument," he suggested. Sayuri nodded swiftly and stood up, grabbing Naru's hand in the process.

"Remember when I first took you to the Hokage's office, Naru?" she asked. When she received a nod, she continued. "Well, it's going to feel like that for a moment."

A moment later, the three disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

xxx

They appeared atop the Yondaime's head on the mountain. It was the lowest out of the four there, and would provide the most privacy.

When they were settled, Atsui looked down to Naru.

"Anything we talk about up here is not to be repeated _anywhere_, alright?" he asked in perfect seriousness.

Naru's eyes widened, but she nodded slowly.

"Alright," he began. "When you were a baby, a ninja sealed something that the village was afraid of inside of you. It was done to protect everyone, including you," he explained.

Naru stared at him, taking everything in slowly.

"Since people were afraid of the being, they take it out on you. Some even think you _are_ the being. Like your mother said, it's _not _true. I know it's not right, but that's just the way people are. It's like I said: people can be stupid."

"So they blame me for something I have no control over?" she asked in disbelief.

Atsui nodded. "That's right."

"Well that's dumb," she said bluntly. "It's like blaming Kono for sleeping all the time."

Sayuri and Atsui both burst out laughing at that.

"Or something like that," Atsui said when he regained his composure. "You get the idea."

The two adults were quiet when they saw that Naru looked like she was thinking about something.

"Could the… thing that's sealed in me ever, you know, come out?" she asked a bit hesitantly.

"No." Atsui quickly shook his head. "The ninja that sealed it in you was a great seal master. He knew what he was doing."

Naru nodded and opened her mouth again.

"Before you ask, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything more about it," Atsui explained. "I promise you that we _will _tell you someday."

Naru closed her mouth and frowned.

"I can tell you that the seal is on your stomach, but it won't be visible until you can tap into your chakra—that's still a ways off, so don't worry about it now," he said.

Naru paused. "How do you understand this so well?" she asked.

Sayuri remained quiet and pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

Atsui looked like he was contemplating something.

"I… well, I wasn't originally from the Sarutobi clan," he began. "I don't know what my surname used to be. For a long time, I was simply 'Atsui.' While I was born in Konoha, I was orphaned at the age of two when my parents died in a fire. Apparently, I didn't have any relatives who wanted to take me in—both my mother and father came from small families—so I was sent to an orphanage."

"Did the kids make fun of you too?" Naru asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "But it wasn't for what you might consider a 'normal' reason." He paused. "You're my daughter, so you might as well know," he said before reaching up to the collar of his shirt. He pulled it to the side so she could see what he was talking about. On the back of his neck, she could see three marks in the shape of tomoe with odds smaller characters around them.

"What is it?"

"It's a cursed seal."

xxx

A/N: Before you review telling me Anko was the first one to receive a cursed seal, let me say something. How do you think Orochimaru _created_ the seal in the first place? Think of this one as a prototype. Compared to the final ones Anko and Sasuke received, this is a severely bastardized one. It's even more unstable than the finished ones.

Kinda funny how I wrote about Naru's birthday on the day of mine.

Please take the time to review, if you would. They are appreciated very much!

See you next time!

Zashire

P.S. Don't count on every chapter being six thousand words long. xD


	4. You're Not Alone

Child of the Curse  
Chapter 4: You're Not Alone  
By: Zashire

"What is it?"

"A cursed seal."

Sayuri put her head down.

"It's something a bad ninja gave me—something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life, sort of like you," he explained. "It used to cause problems, but father—the Hokage—and one of his students found a way to stop the… effects of it." He then pointed to the smaller characters around the tomoe. "These keep it from acting up. While I was at the orphanage, I was made fun of because I was different. It was also because the seal would act up on occasion, and I would scare the other kids." He took a breath.

"This seal was placed on me when I was four years old. I was able to stay at the orphanage for three years before they finally complained to the Hokage about me enough. It had caused them too many problems, and looking back on it, I honestly can't blame them. They were civilians, so the sudden changes must have been hard to deal with. Anyway, soon after that, the Hokage took me in, and I became 'Sarutobi Atsui.'"

Naru watched him when he paused. She could see a faint smile on his face. He looked like he was reliving the moment. She was surprised by how her father had a childhood that was actually similar to hers on a basic level. For the early part of his life, he had been an outcast like her because of something he couldn't control. It was a nice thought that they both managed to find a caring family in the Sarutobi clan.

She briefly wondered why a ninja would give her father such a seal. He didn't look like he wanted to talk about it anymore, so she wouldn't ask questions. She hoped she would learn about it someday. Then maybe she could slap the mean ninja for doing a bad thing to her father.

"It was actually kind of funny," Sayuri spoke up for the first time in a while. Naru and Atsui jerked their heads in her direction; they had almost forgotten she was there because of her silence. The Jounin looked up at the sky. "For the longest time I hated Atsui," she said with a giggle.

Atsui grinned. "I remember your first words when I walked into the house. Something along the lines of 'I don't _want_ a third brother! Two's enough!'" Atsui quoted, earning himself a whack over the head. "Ow."

"I didn't sound like that," she complained. "But honestly, could you blame me? I mean, I was the only girl aside from Kari! I grew up around guys, and I was the youngest of you all."

"You may have a point there." Atsui chuckled. "It's too bad she…"

"Died?" Sayuri finished. "Yeah, I know. It would have been nice to get to know her. All I have are a few pictures."

"Who?" Naru asked in confusion.

"My mother," the brunette explained. "She would have been your grandmother. She died of an illness shortly after I was born."

"Oh." Naru was at a loss for what to say.

"It's fine." Sayuri shook her head. "She may have been my mother, but I didn't know her. Kari-obasan sort of took her place."

Atsui smiled. "Kari played the role of a mother to us all, even Kazu. Masumi died when he was ten years old; he knew her the best out of any of us."

Sayuri nodded. "Though I wish Asuma-nii would come back…"

"Yeah," Atsui said quietly. "I'm not sure if I'd be able to put up with him and tou-san in the same room, though. They argue about such pointless stuff. I'm having a hard time even remembering when it all began."

"Yeah… Didn't it have to do with the fact that Asuma didn't agree with tou-san's ideas? He never wanted to put anything before his family," Sayuri pondered. "Funny how he became a ninja, despite all those complaints about a ninja's ideals."

"Yeah," Atsui agreed. "When he was younger, he'd always talk about trying to change the ninja code. I think he lost sight of that goal later on, but his fighting with tou-san never did end."

The Jounin smiled sadly. "Kazu and Kari always took tou-san's side, too. I never wanted any part in it, so I would stay always stay out of it all."

"Finally got to the point where he left. I still haven't heard anything from him since," Atsui said, looking at the ground.

"It's been three years. He didn't come when Emiko had Kono. He didn't come when we got married." Sayuri bit her lip, trying to hold back a sob. "He hasn't replied to any of the letters we sent him. I hope he has a good reason…" she trailed off. "I-I just can't find it in me to stay mad at him. I hope he's okay."

Atsui rubbed her back while Naru grabbed onto her mother's hand, trying to offer some support. Sayuri smiled at the two and wiped her eyes with her free hand.

"This is Asuma were talking about," Atsui said. "If anything ever takes that stubborn man down, the world's coming to an end."

Sayuri chuckled a bit at that. "You're probably right."

"Of course I am!" he beamed. "That why they call me 'Atsui the—"

"Don't get so full of yourself," she cut him off.

"Fine, rain on my parade," he pouted.

"Um… who's Emiko?" Naru asked, breaking the couple's antics.

The two adults immediately sobered.

"She was Kono's mother," Sayuri explained a hint of sadness in her voice. "She died while giving birth to him." There was a thoughtful silence. "I don't think I had ever seen Kazu so angry before," she said with a shiver.

Atsui nodded. "He was like that for a while. I do think having Kono there helped him a lot, though."

Sayuri nodded. "Good thing Kari-obasan was there to help him. He would have been lost without her."

"So true," the ANBU laughed. He sighed. "Wow. Sorry, Naru. Didn't mean to give you our life's story there."

Naru shook her head. "I liked hearing about my family. I was wondering if Kono had a kaa-san."

"Well, that's good," Sayuri said. "Maybe we'll tell you more some other time. There are plenty of things that have happened to us."

Atsui held back a yawn and then smiled. "My point with all that is to show you that I didn't have to go through everything alone, and neither do you, Naru. Sayu and I can't stop the glares and cold looks people give you, but we _can_ and _will_ help you through it all."

Sayuri nodded. "We're your parents now. We're here to protect you."

Atsui then lifted Naru into his lap and wrapped one arm around her and the other around his wife.

"You're not alone, Naru."

A few tears rolled down her face. She wasn't sad, though. She was far beyond happy. She had parents who loved her. For the first time she wasn't completely alone.

A sudden cracking noise broke the moment. The trio looked up to see a beautiful display of colors in the night sky.

"Looks like we stayed out late enough for the fireworks," Atsui commented. "Might as well watch them."

Sayuri smiled when she looked over to Naru. The little girl's mouth was hanging wide open.

"This is amazing!" she exclaimed with stars in her eyes.

As more and more banging noises filled the night sky, Atsui, Sayuri, and Naru watched on with smiles and grins on their faces. The colors were very pretty.

But nothing was more beautiful than the sight of the small family huddled together atop the head of the Yondaime.

xxx

In Naru's opinion, the year following that night at the festival passed all too quickly.

Konohamaru was going on three years old, while she would be turning six soon. She was amazed by how quickly the time with her new family flew by. Her parents had been right, though: it was easier to ignore the glares from the people of Konoha when she was with her family. They did indeed help protect her whenever they could.

She and Kazuhito had gotten closer as well in that year. There were times when both her parents were gone on missions, and she was left with her uncle, cousin, and Kari. While she spent a lot of time with Kari learning how to do various things, from cleaning to cooking, she also began to talk with her uncle more, especially when Konohamaru was down for a nap.

After her first conversation with him, she concluded that he was the second most brilliant person she had ever met, the first being her grandfather. He often used big words that she didn't know, and was kind enough to explain their meanings to her. He was a very patient man, she learned. It was probably how he dealt with his son so well. It took a will of steel to put up with the youngest Sarutobi.

Along with expanding her vocabulary, Kazuhito also helped her with her reading. Sayuri couldn't be there for her all the time, so he, along with Kari, would take turns reading with her every night her parents weren't there. It gave Naru a chance to get to know them even better.

One of the best things that she experienced that year happened in March. She had been wandering around the house with nothing to do, and hadn't realized that her grandfather had taken the day off, apparently for no important reason. She wound up finding him on an upstairs balcony in the back of the main household.

He stood there in a smock of sorts, with a canvas in front of him and a brush in his hand.

Naru had walked up to him and asked what he was doing. For some reason, the older man had practically jumped out of his skin when she tapped his back. He said he hadn't heard her approaching, and commented on how silently she moved. He had never really considered it before, but when he thought back on it, he realized how often Naru managed to sneak up on people, completely by accident. It was a thought he would file away for later.

When she asked him what he had been doing before she interrupted, he replied that he was painting. She had looked at the canvas and had asked if she could try it. Her grandfather had smiled and set up one for her.

And thus, Naru found a new hobby.

She found herself painting sunrises more often than not because of her fondness of them. Hiruzen had sighed when he found his orange paint gone after only two sessions of painting, but he did enjoy her company.

Whenever he went up to the balcony to paint, he would let Naru know, and she would drop whatever she was doing to join him in an instant. He was happy that they had something in common. Without their dual interest in art, they probably wouldn't have spent nearly as much time together.

Like Atsui had said, she truly wasn't alone anymore.

xxx

While Naru continued to get to know her family members, she never forgot about her old "invisible" friend. Red would make appearances every now and then, often without warning. She would sometimes make an entrance when Naru was playing, and then join her. Other times, Naru would be seated on a couch, and suddenly her friend would come in and sit down next to her. Her comings and goings were sporadic, to say the least.

In Naru's opinion, Red was a very beautiful woman. At first, Naru couldn't even tell her gender —she was just a red blur. But as time went on, her image became clearer and clearer until Naru could see the finest details about her.

She was a little bit shorter than Sayuri, but was just as slender. Her hair was a bright red, hence the name Naru had given her. Her eyes were a blend of silver and purple, while her skin was pale in color—a sharp contrast to the tanned skin color that seemed to run in the Sarutobi clan.

Naru thought it funny that she always seemed to wear the same outfit. It was a white gown that looked similar to the ones Naru had seen at the Konoha Hospital the one time she had been there.

The young blonde never really understood why her friend couldn't talk back to her whenever she told the woman something. However, she knew Red understood her because she would smile whenever Naru did. It had been a great comfort back at the orphanage. She was the only one that would ever offer the little girl a sign of comfort or happiness.

Naru had talked about Red on occasion with her parents, but they were convinced that the woman was just a figment of the blonde's imagination. She wished they could understand that Red was _real_, but it seemed to be a lost cause, so she dropped the matter altogether.

She was just glad that at least Konohamaru believed her, though he really didn't count for anything. In his mind, whatever Naru said was one hundred percent true. She was his "older sister," and became a sort of idol in his eyes. He wanted to be as great as she was, he said. Naru was surprised by the statement; honestly, was she really that special?

When she told Red about Konohamaru's idolization of her, the woman had smiled and placed a hand on the young blonde's shoulder. Naru hadn't understood the gesture, but smiled back nonetheless.

Maybe it was something that came with being an "older sister"?

xxx

Painting with her grandfather and talking with Red was all fine and dandy, but they barely held a candle to the _best_ day of Naru's first year as a Sarutobi.

It happened in the middle of July. It was the day Naru made her first friend.

xxx

"Hey, Sayu," Atsui said as he entered the living room. "I'm off to Yutaka's."

"Okay," she replied. She had been reading with Naru before her husband came in. She looked back up at him. "Why don't you take Naru-chan with you?"

He looked surprised, but took a moment to think about it.

"Sure," he said. "I think he's got a daughter around Naru's age there, too." He looked over to the young blonde, who stared back at him with a curious look on her face. "Wanna come?"

She shrugged, and looked up at her mother.

"Go on," Sayuri encouraged with a smile. She closed the book they had been reading. "We'll finish this later."

Naru smiled and jumped off the sofa.

"Let's get going then!" Atsui grinned. The little girl reached for his hand, but instead, he picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. Naru squeaked in surprise and wrapped her legs tightly around Atsui's neck. When he realized she was cutting off his circulation, he gently pulled at her ankles, releasing himself from her hold. This only resulted in her grabbing onto his mop of hair tightly. He sighed. _Oh well. It's better than asphyxiating_.

Sayuri laughed as she watched her husband's expressions. "I'd have warned you about that if you'd asked. I threw her over my shoulder once… I think I still have a few scratch marks on my back from it. She likes it when her feet are touching the ground."

"Thanks for the help," he said, his eyebrow twitching.

Before long, they were outside the house and on their way to the place Atsui had to stop by.

"So, how do you like it up there?" he asked the little girl on his shoulders. She still held onto his hair, but her grip was not _nearly_ as tight as it had been before.

"I love it!" she said with enthusiasm. Her head was spinning around in all directions. She had never been that high off the ground before. From up there, she was able to see what felt like hundreds of things she had missed before. It was amazing!

Atsui grinned up at her. Sure, his neck would probably be stiff as hell the next day, but it was worth it to see his daughter smile.

"Do you think I'll be as tall as you some day?" he heard her ask.

His grin faltered a bit and his muscles tensed, ever so slightly. What those bastards at the orphanage had done was unforgivable. They had starved Naru to the point where her bones could be seen without any effort. He had talked with Sayuri and Hiruzen about it several times, and they all had to agree on the fact that Naru's growth and development would always be stunted.

She had been denied proper nutrition at some of the most crucial points of childhood development, and because of it, she would never be able to fully catch up. Kari had done her best to help by cooking healthy meals for the girl, but Naru had been "scarred," so to speak. She would be the shrimp in her classes, height-wise, and her frame would probably be smaller than the other girls.

Atsui wished there was something he could do to help her, but there wasn't. It was just another thing that would make her stand out.

_As if she needs any more of that_, he thought with a scowl.

"Tou-san?" The voice jerked him back to reality. He looked up to meet the concerned look of Naru.

"Ah, sorry," he apologized. "I kind of spaced out there. And to answer your question: eat your vegetables, and you might get taller." He could help but smile at her childish pout.

"But… but ramen!" she complained.

He sighed. "Stunts your growth," he finished. Her jaw dropped, and he snorted. _She can pass off having something sealed inside of her, but when it comes to being denied ramen_… he paused. In all honesty, he probably would have done the same thing. "It doesn't mean you can't have it." She brightened. "Just try to listen to what your mom says once in a while," he tacked on. He had to play the part of the 'responsible adult.' After all, he was her father, and therefore had to set a good example for her.

"I do listen to kaa-san!" she countered.

_Not nearly as much as she'd like you to_, he left the thought unsaid and sighed again.

"Hey, look, we're here," he noted as he saw the familiar shop.

"Where are we going?" Naru asked.

"No matter what anyone tells you, Naru," he began, "_this_ is the _best_ weapon shop in all of Konoha—Yutaka's Weaponry!"

"Advertising to five-year-olds, are we?" an older voice inquired. A man who looked to be twice the age of Atsui walked out of the establishment. "Not that I'm complaining; just don't give the kid anything too sharp."

"Hey, Taka!" Atsui smiled.

"It's Yutaka." He scowled. Anyone that knew the old man called him 'Taka' because he had the eye of a hawk. His aim was deadly, and he seemed to see anything and everything. "And it's good to see you again, Atsui-kun. So, who's your friend?" he asked, indicating the blonde girl.

"Er, this is Naru," he said, lifting her off his shoulders and placing her on the ground. "Sayuri and I adopted her."

Yutaka looked surprised for a moment, but quickly hid it as understanding hit. He had been close to the Sarutobi family for some time, and through them, he learned of many things. He had also been the blacksmith the girl's biological father had commissioned to make a special type of kunai.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Naru-chan," he said, smiling down at the young girl. "My name is Moriyama Yutaka."

Naru briefly bowed to the man as her parents had shown her. It was a small sign of respect to her elders. "It's nice to meet you, too, Moriyama-sama."

"Please, just call me Yutaka," he said. "The whole 'sama' thing makes me feel a lot older than I already am. Besides, any friend of Atsui's is a friend of mine."

Naru smiled back up at him.

"So, what'd you stop by for, Atsui-kun?" Yutaka turned to the ANBU.

"Just the usual," he replied casually. "Oh, and think you could throw in a few blunted shuriken?" He ruffled Naru's hair. "Sayu and I were thinking about showing Naru some of the basics to see if she was interested."

At that, Naru's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Was that why her mother had encouraged her to go with Atsui? Over the year, they had explained to her the general idea of what a ninja was. She took a liking to it because, if she became one, it would mean that she could protect her family from bad guys, like the one that gave her father the mark on his neck.

"Let's go inside," Yutaka suggested. Atsui nodded and led his daughter in behind the older man. "My little girl started using weapons a long time ago. If Naru-chan takes a liking to them, maybe we could get them together sometime? She's actually quite skilled for her age," he said as he led them to the back of the shop.

When they entered the back room, Naru saw a young girl, who looked to be a year or so older than her, throwing pointy objects at targets on the wall of the room. The girl was a brunette and had chocolate-brown eyes, but unlike the Sarutobi clan, her skin was much lighter in color, similar to Red's. Her outfit consisted of a white Chinese shirt, and long black pants. Her hair was pulled up into an odango style, similar to the one Naru wore to the Day of Heroes festival.

The center of every target was covered in sharp, silvery weapons.

Atsui's eyebrows shot to his hairline.

"Does deadly aim run in your family, Taka?"

"It's Yu—never mind," he gave up. "She's been practicing for a long time." He looked down to Naru, whose mouth was hanging open. He laughed lightly. "Hey, Tenten-chan, why don't you come over here?"

The girl's head jerked in their direction, surprise clearly written on her face. She had been so transfixed by the targets that she hadn't noticed them enter the room. She immediately smiled when she saw her father, and quickly walked over to them.

"Hi there!" she said with a grin. "My name's Tenten!"

Naru looked at the girl in bewilderment. The young brunette had been so focused one second, and had suddenly become happy and carefree. The change in behavior threw Naru off a bit, but she managed a smile.

"You've met Atsui-kun before," Yutaka said. "This is his daughter, Naru-chan."

Tenten looked at Naru curiously. She saw the differences between Atsui and Naru in their appearances, but decided not to say anything about it. Her father had taught her manners, and she was always on her best behavior, especially when it came to guests.

"Have you ever thrown a kunai before?" she asked suddenly, surprising Naru a bit.

Naru shook her head 'no,' to which Tenten gasped. She turned to her father.

"Tou-san, can I show Naru how to use kunai?" she asked.

Yutaka sighed and looked at Atsui, who shrugged. "As long as someone's supervising."

The older man nodded. "Get the blunted ones while I go get Atsui-kun his things." He turned to the ANBU. "You stay to watch them." He nodded.

Tenten groaned. The balance of the dulled weapons was off, which made them even harder to throw. "Fine," she muttered.

Naru just stood there in confusion, wondering how she had ended up in the current situation.

Who would've thought she would go from learning how to read to learning how to use weapons in a single day?

Not that she minded it.

She smiled and followed Tenten over to the targets.

xxx

A/N: Why do I always get inspiration around midnight? -is sleep deprived- Oh, how I miss you, Sleep.

Ah, well, that's the price I pay for writing fanfiction.

Hope you liked it!

Zashire


	5. Forging Friendships

Child of the Curse  
Chapter 5: Forging Friendships  
By: Zashire

During the following months, Naru and Tenten grew close to each other. They were almost inseparable. At first, Naru had been confused by the young brunette because of how excited she could get, but became more accepting when she saw the girl calm down. Despite her young age, Tenten had a passion for weapons. Naru quickly learned that if she wanted to have a normal conversation with her new friend, she had to avoid the topic like the plague.

The two girls continued to meet up, first at the weapons shop. Atsui and Sayuri would take her there several times a week so the kids could talk and play. Naru's parents trusted Yutaka enough to leave Naru under his supervision, though there was always an ANBU nearby, just in case. When they would come to pick Naru up, they would usually find her in the back room, receiving lessons from Tenten on various weapons, mainly shuriken and kunai.

Yutaka always made sure they were blunted, much to Tenten's annoyance.

After a month of meeting up, Atsui suggested that Naru invite Tenten to the Sarutobi compound. Naru hadn't thought of that, but liked the idea. It soon became a pattern of switching off where they would meet. One day it would be at the blacksmith's, the next it would be at the Hokage's home.

Neither of the two kids really talked about their lives until they had been meeting for about two months. Up until then, they had simply discussed things they liked to do, nothing that was too personal. The first to open up was Tenten.

Another kunai hit the bullseye of the target.

"You're amazing, Tenten-chan!" Naru announced. She looked over to her own target. Two kunai had hit the outer ring, but the rest were lodged in various places on the wall where the target was hung.

Tenten smiled back. "I've been practicing for a long time. You'll get better soon! At least you hit the target today!" She pointed to the two kunai. "See! You're already getting better!"

Naru sighed. "It's still not as good as you," she mumbled.

"Hey," Tenten said, earning Naru's attention. "Nothing is free. You have to work to get it!"

Naru nodded. "You mean like how it takes a while to learn how to cook and paint?" she asked.

The brunette quirked her head in confusion.

"You haven't learned how to cook?" Naru asked.

Tenten shook her head slowly.

"How come?" the blonde asked obliviously.

Tenten lowered her head and moved to collect the kunai. Naru followed after her.

"What's wrong, Tenten-chan?" she asked.

"Nothing," the young girl replied, pulling a kunai out of the wall.

"Something's wrong," Naru said matter-of-factly. "Kaa-san says that when—"

"_Just leave me alone!_" Tenten snapped and turned to face Naru.

It was only then that the young blonde realized her friend was crying.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, reaching out to the other girl. Tenten slapped her hand away, and ran over to the staircase. She climbed up the stairs as fast as she could and was out of Naru's sight before the blonde could fully comprehend what had just happened. Naru stood there, stunned.

She knew that Tenten and her father lived upstairs in the weaponry. She also knew that she was allowed to go to Tenten's room because she had been invited there many times before.

Within moments, Naru took off after her friend, wondering what had caused her to react like that. Had she said something bad? If so, she hadn't meant to.

She sprinted up the stairs and walked down the hallway until she came upon Tenten's bedroom. It was smaller than hers, but definitely looked comfortable. She saw her friend lying on the bed, curled up into a ball.

She walked over to the crying girl and placed a hand on Tenten's arm. The brunette jerked in surprise, causing Naru to recoil as well. Naru mentally berated herself for not making her presence known beforehand. She remembered her family talking about how "sneaky" she could be, even though she didn't realize it.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again, both for the surprise and for what had happened earlier.

Tenten met her eyes for a moment, and then looked away. "It's fine," she muttered into a pillow she was hugging.

"What did I do wrong?" Naru asked, desperately wanting to know. She hated it when she hurt the people she loved. While she didn't "love" Tenten as a family member, she was the first friend Naru had ever made. She didn't want to lose that friendship.

Tenten turned to face her again and sat up. She patted the spot next to herself, so Naru jumped up on the bed to sit by her. The blonde kept her eyes on her the whole time, her gaze anxious.

Tenten pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"It's not your fault," she said quietly. "You didn't know."

"Know what?" Naru inquired. "What's wrong? How come crying?"

Tenten would have corrected her had it been any other situation.

"When I was five, my kaa-san… passed away," Tenten explained, hugging her knees tightly. "Tou-san can't cook very well—kaa-san did that—so I never really learned how to do things like that. All I really know about are weapons."

Naru frowned and wrapped her arms around her friend as best she could. "I'm sorry, Tenten-chan."

Tenten shook her head a bit, but welcomed the embrace. "It's been almost two years now. I wish I could be strong like tou-san," she said, her voice cracking. "He never cries, but I always do." She put her head down. "But I can't help it. I can't stop crying!" A sob escaped her mouth. "I miss her too… much…" She broke down crying. "It's not fair!"

Naru didn't know what to do besides hold her friend tightly. How should she feel? No one close to her had ever died. What did it feel like to lose someone important to you? It was making Tenten cry; it was obviously bad. What had happened to the strong girl she had come to know? Tenten never cried. Not even when she got hurt by falling down or sticking herself with a pointy weapon by accident. She just shrugged it off and carried on as if nothing had happened.

She was a tough girl—it was one of the many things Naru liked about her. Where had that girl gone off to? When had the weeping brunette taken her place? Could she do anything to make the strong girl come back? She didn't know what was going through her friend's mind, so how could she do anything about it? Her mother had died two years ago. That was the thing that was making her cry.

She tried to think of the things her own mother did for her whenever she cried. Would rubbing her back help? What else had her mother done?

Naru's train of thought suddenly paused as something hit her. How would she react if Sayuri suddenly disappeared? What would she do if she never saw her mother again? Could she handle an encounter with death? It would mean that there would be no one to read her to sleep the nights her father was out on a mission. Kari could, but it wouldn't be the same. Her family would help fill the void, but a piece would always be missing.

"Kaa-san can't die!" Naru shrieked, her hands clutching Tenten even harder.

Tenten's head jerked up in surprise, her sadness practically forgotten. Suddenly the roles had been switched, and Naru was the one crying into Tenten's shoulder.

"Naru-chan?" Tenten asked, and slipped an arm out of the girl's grasp. She put a hand on the blonde's back.

Naru looked up, tears still rolling down her face.

Tenten tried her best to smile. "Naru-chan, you still have your kaa-san. It's okay."

"But, but you don't!" she retorted. "It's not fair!"

Tenten shook her head. "No, it's not. But I still have tou-san!" She gave a genuine smile. "You still have both your parents! Don't cry over something that hasn't happened."

Naru nodded.

"And your grandpa is the Hokage!" Tenten encouraged. It was kind of funny that she was the one who was comforting another, but then remembered that Naru was only five years old. Tenten had recently turned seven—she couldn't expect so much out of Naru. She was happy to know that Naru had wanted to help her, though. It had been awhile since she had someone she could open up to.

Naru paused, but smiled. "Yep!" She thought about ways she could make it up to Tenten. She hadn't meant to make her cry, but she still had.

"Oh!" the blonde announced when an idea hit her. "Wanna come over to my house?" she asked the other girl. "We can cook with Kari-obasan, and paint with ojiisan!"

"Are your parents okay with that?" Tenten asked hesitantly.

"Sure!" Naru said enthusiastically. "But I've never had a friend over before."

Tenten giggled at that. "It's okay, Naru-chan! I'm sure it will all work out! Thank you!"

_Found her!_ Naru grinned. The old Tenten was back.

xxx

When Tenten began visiting the Sarutobi compound, she quickly learned she had interests in things other than weapons. While she still wasn't a huge fan of cooking, she took a liking to art immediately.

In part because she was amazing when it came to painting weapons.

Naru tried to get her to paint landscapes, and she would on occasion, but the young brunette's brain was always on sharp and pointy objects. The blonde would always sigh whenever that would happen.

Hiruzen, on the other hand, would always laugh at those interactions that resulted in Naru pouting. He was happy to have another person to paint with, though he would still sometimes go to the balcony without any children if he wanted it to be quiet. Normally, he didn't mind Naru, but she could get loud if something caught her eye.

_She'll definitely be a good student if she goes to the Academy_, he pondered. The young girl had taken an interest in being a ninja a while back, and if she was committed to that, then they would have to start her training soon.

He never would have guessed that it would start because of Tenten's initiative.

xxx

For Naru's sixth birthday, Tenten gave her a book on different types of weapons. Every couple of pages there would be a new section with information on a type of weapon. The book had many pictures, as well, leaving nothing to the imagination. It also gave the most basic of instruction as to how each weapon was used.

In all, it was Naru's favorite birthday present. She began reading it that very night… well, more like skimmed it, since she didn't know all of the terms. Tenten promised she would show Naru any weapons she wanted to see the next time she came to their house.

Naru couldn't have been more excited.

When she first flipped through the guide, she was really only looking at the pictures. Some caught her eye, and she would read a bit about them, but would soon continue on. When she finished flipping through it, she thought about everything she had seen.

Only one weapon really stood out to her.

She jumped off the bed and ran out the bedroom to where she knew her father still was. Atsui and her grandfather were still talking in the living room, and gave Naru a surprised look when they saw her at the door.

"Naru?" Atsui asked. "It's midnight, shouldn't you be asleep?"

The blonde ignored the question, and instead held up the book that was opened to the page on the weapon she had become so fascinated with. Atsui reached over and took it from her, while Hiruzen raised a brow in question.

"Bow and arrow?" Atsui inquired. A small smile appeared on his face. "So, you have an interest in archery?"

Naru nodded.

"It's been a while since I've seen an archer in Konoha," her grandfather commented. "Not many of our ninja specialize in a particular weapon. And when they do, they usually choose something like swordsmanship."

Atsui looked to Hiruzen. "Doesn't mean it's not an effective skill." He paused, looking down at the picture in the guide. "You just have to be very proficient in it for it to be useful. If you can't work quickly, it's not effective because you wind up leaving your guard down while you're pulling out another arrow."

"True," Hiruzen agreed. "But we all know one woman that was able to make it work."

"My sensei?" Atsui chuckled. "The Gennin days were horrible," he said with a shiver. "Whenever she was mad at us, she light one on fire. Crazy woman."

Hiruzen couldn't help but laugh at that one.

Naru looked confused. "Who was your sensei?" She saw her two family members freeze for a moment, but tried to ignore it when they carried on casually.

"She was the Yondaime's wife, Namikaze Kushina," Atsui explained. "I'll tell you more about the old days some other time, but my point with all that is she taught me a bit about using a bow and arrow. I could help you learn if you're interested."

Naru's concern was immediately forgotten and she was soon bouncing up and down. "Yes, please, tou-san!" she said excitedly.

Atsui chuckled and looked to Hiruzen. "I'll pick up a decurve bow from Yutaka next time I stop by. He should have a few." The older man nodded.

Naru quirked her head. "What's a decurve bow?"

"It's not really meant to be used for battle," Atsui explained. "Most people use them for practice, especially for younger children, because they shoot the arrow at a slower speed. It'll help to get you started in archery. If you still like it later on, we'll get you a better bow."

Naru grinned and jumped up in her father's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much, tou-san!"

He looked a bit surprised, but wrapped an arm around her. "You're very welcome, Naru."

Hiruzen couldn't help but smile at the scene before him. Naru had come a long way in the year she had been with the family. He still remembered the scared four-year-old that had come into his office the previous September. She hadn't wanted to let go of Sayuri at all. He couldn't think of another time when he had seen a child so frightened inside Konoha. Most four-year-olds didn't have a care in the world; it wasn't fair that Naru had to suffer at such a young age.

_At least she has a family now_, he thought with a smile.

xxx

Shortly after Naru's birthday, Atsui and Sayuri began training their daughter. It wasn't anything too serious; it was just meant to give her a feel for what training was. Technically, she had started training the day she first picked up a shuriken at the weaponry, but that had mainly been for fun. Her parents were more serious about their lessons.

Atsui began by explaining the concept of chakra to Naru. It was complicated, but he tried to break it down as best he could. Naru finally understood that she needed to look for something inside herself. She wasn't exactly sure what that thing was, but according to her father, she would know it when she found it.

He also showed her a method that would aid her in the process. It was something called "meditation." Atsui thanked Kami that the young girl was able to sit quietly in one place for a long time. She could have a lot of energy, and was like Tenten in more ways than one, but she also knew that there were times when she had to be calm. It made Atsui's job a lot easier.

While meditating, her father told her to try and feel a sort of "spark," some kind of energy flowing through her. He guided her through the process for almost half an hour with no luck. Naru looked disappointed, but Atsui told her he would have been highly surprised if she had managed to find her chakra that quickly.

"Many people don't find it until they're eight or nine," he said. She countered by saying that people like Kakashi had found it when they were even younger than her. He said that there were always exceptions, but all she could do was try her best.

"And besides, you don't need chakra to use a bow and arrow." That brightened her up immediately, and Atsui pulled out a large case.

He opened it and presented her with the contents: a somewhat small bow, several arrows in a makeshift quiver, an armguard, and a finger tab. He went through the equipment slowly, making sure that Naru understood him and what each part was used for. She almost had a hard time following because of how stunned she was at how quickly her father had bought the weapon.

When he finished explaining, he looked her in the eye with a serious expression.

"Before we begin, I want you to understand that you are not allowed to use this without Sayuri, Kazuhito, Hiruzen, or me watching you," he said. "Alright?"

Naru nodded. "Like the kunai and shuriken practice with Tenten?"

"Exactly," he replied. He then broke into a grin. "Let's get started."

xxx

Naru groaned as she flopped onto her bed. She had just finished another training session with her mother, and was dead tired. Recently, her parents decided to bring her training up a notch, resulting in many days where all Naru wanted to do was sleep. She felt like she was just beginning to understand what being a ninja really meant.

Naru still firmly held onto the idea that she would become a ninja one day. She wanted to protect her family from bad people, and though she never told anyone, she wanted to find out who had given her father that "cursed seal," as he called it. She didn't really know what she would do when she found him, but she knew she would be angry. That person had caused her father a lot of pain as a child.

Sure, she had had to grow up in an orphanage where she was made fun of, but why had her father had to experience the same thing? All because someone marked him with something. She would figure it one day.

"Naru!" a voice called from the first floor. The blonde recognized it as her mother's. "Want me to help you get ready?"

_Ready?_ Naru wondered. _Ready for what?_ And then it hit her like a ton of bricks. How could she forget the New Year's Festival was today? She had promised Tenten she would meet up with her. The training session must have made her forget.

"Yes, please!" she called back to Sayuri.

Her mother came up the stairs and quickly began assisting her. Despite Naru's protests, Sayuri forced her to take a shower, saying she needed to be clean for such an event. While the blonde was washing up, Sayuri began to prepare the kimono Naru was going to wear. She was already dressed up in hers. She set out the light purple kimono on the bed. They had offered to get Naru another one, but the little girl loved the light purple one too much. She would have to get another one for other events at some point, but not yet—she was still just a child.

Naru came out of the shower shortly after and was quickly dressed by her mother. Sayuri asked Naru how she wanted to style her hair, and was expecting the girl to say the odango one.

"Can I leave my hair down?" she asked. Sayuri was caught a little off guard by this. Naru always liked it when her hair was up.

"If that's what you want, then alright," the brunette said with a smile. Naru smiled back up at her mother.

In all honesty, it had to do with the fact that Tenten wore her hair like that all the time. Naru thought it might be a little odd if they both had the same hairstyle, and besides, she liked it when her hair was down. She thought she looked prettier that way.

"Are you girls ready?" Atsui asked from downstairs.

"Yep!" Sayuri called back. "We're coming!"

As they came down the stairs, they saw Hiruzen standing next to the others. Sayuri and Naru brightened up. New Year's was different from the Day of Heroes. There was no remembrance speech that needed to me made, nothing that would require the Hokage's presence. For once, he could actually enjoy the evening with his family.

"Let's go, then," Kazuhito said, carrying Konohamaru over to the door. They all followed after him.

xxx

"Hey, Tenten-chan!" Naru greeted as she ran over to her friend's house, her family in tow.

Tenten had been sitting by the entrance to the shop with her father, looking around. "Naru-chan!" she welcomed with a grin of her own.

"Taka!" Atsui teased.

Said man twitched. "Atsui. Good to see you, too." He then looked them over. "Brought everyone, didn't you?" he chuckled.

"Yep!" Naru answered, even though the question wasn't directed at her. "Kari-obasan stayed behind, though. I don't think she likes festivals," she mumbled.

Hiruzen nodded. "But don't let her absence take the fun out of this."

Naru and Tenten grinned. "So can we go play some games now?" the young brunette asked eagerly.

"Sure," Yutaka shrugged. "Just don't leave us in the dust."

The two young girls laughed as they ran off toward the center of the village, which really wasn't more than a couple streets away.

Sayuri sighed. "They have way too much energy."

"Ah, to be young again." Hiruzen shook his head.

"Let's get going if we don't want to lose them." Yutaka sighed as well.

Kazuhito rubbed his chin in thought. "You know, it'd be a lot less hectic if—"

Sayuri whacked him over the head before he could finish.

_They haven't changed at all_, Hiruzen thought with a chuckle.

xxx

"What about that game?" Naru suggested as they passed another stall, looking for some entertainment. She was pointing at a place that wasn't too far away. Their parents could still see them, so it would be okay.

"Now _that_ is my kind of game!" Tenten grinned as she watched a person there throw a ball, knocking down a small stack of blocks in the process.

Naru looked excited as well. _I wonder if that target practice will help me with this!_ Naru then checked how much money they had. They had been playing quite a few games, so they had used up most of it.

"Hey, Tenten-chan?" Naru asked.

The brunette turned to her. "Yeah? What's wrong?"

"Well, we kinda used up all the ryo," the blonde explained. "You go on ahead. I'll go ask kaa-san for some more."

Tenten nodded, all too eager to go play the game. It must have been a while since she had been to a festival, Naru thought. She then turned and wandered back to her family as her friend took off toward the stall.

"Need some more?" Sayuri asked when she came up to them, practically reading her mind.

"Yes, please!" Naru grinned.

Sayuri laughed. "Slow down a bit. That's the last I can spare you for tonight. We're going to need the rest to pay for dinner."

"Okay," Naru nodded.

Atsui leaned over. "We'll be over by the sushi bar," he said, pointing in the general direction. It was only ten stalls or so away from the game they wanted to play. "Kazu has a friend there, so if you need us, you know where we'll be."

"And let me know if anyone starts giving you a hard time," Sayuri whispered.

Naru bit her lip. She still remembered the man at the dango shop. Several instances like that had happened since then, and it always bothered her, no matter how many times her parents said to ignore it.

"Got it," she replied quietly.

Her mother then patted her back. "But most of all, have fun."

Naru then ran off toward her friend, waving back at her family. She was still nervous about running into the mean people. No matter how many times she encountered them, she always felt just as scared. It never got any better, just worse. Why couldn't they understand that she had no control over what they were afraid of? Why did they have to take it all out on her?

"_People can be stupid."_

Atsui voice echoed in her mind. She could almost remember the entire explanation he had given her, but it all came down to those four simple words. They were true, but it didn't serve to comfort her at all. It didn't stop the glares from coming her way. It didn't stop the name-calling. It didn't stop anything.

_It's not fair!_

That was when her face had a harsh meeting with the dirt below her.

xxx

"Ow," an unfamiliar voice mumbled.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Naru yelped when she realized what had happened. "I wasn't looking where I was going," she explained as she got up. She offered a hand to the other person. "I'm really sorry."

The other person turned out to be a young boy. "It's fine," he shook his head and took the offered hand.

Naru pulled him up and rubbed the back of her head. She looked at the young boy before her. His hair was black, with an odd tint of blue to it, while his eyes were a dark onyx color. His outfit was dark blue in color, with several spots of white. She noticed a sort of fan shaped crest as well. It looked familiar, like something one of her parents had shown her.

He seemed to be sizing her up as well, at least, until it was interrupted.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" a feminine voice asked. Naru looked up to meet the concerned eyes of a woman with hair as dark as that of the boy she ran into. She was a little hesitant around the woman. What if she glared at her once she realized who she was?

"I'm okay, kaa-san," he said, smiling a little up at his mother.

The woman looked over to Naru. "I'm terribly sorry, dear! Look at what has happened to your clothing. Did Sasuke apologize?"

Sasuke gave his mother a look of disbelief, while Naru blushed and waved her hands. Any concern Naru had about the woman was instantly gone.

"I was the one that knocked Sasuke-san over," she explained.

"Oh," the woman said. "Well, it's all right. Sasuke-kun looks fine." She paused in thought. "Why don't you two go play together? Sasuke hasn't been doing anything. He needs to make some friends. I mean, if you're not busy."

Naru shrugged. "I was just going to meet my friend Tenten-chan," she explained. She scratched the back of her head again and looked to Sasuke. "You can play with us if you want to," she offered.

Sasuke shrugged, so his mother gave him some money. "We'll be right here. Your father is talking to some coworkers. I know you're disappointed that Itachi's not here, but try to lighten up."

Sasuke nodded and turned to Naru. He scratched his head too, not really sure what to do. He thought she looked pretty, but he thought it would be odd if he said it. He hadn't ever really interacted with any girls besides family members. It was a different experience.

"Um… so, what's your name?" she finally asked, breaking the ice.

He was dully aware of his mother watching them. "Uchiha Sasuke," he said simply. So that was why the crest looked familiar! He was from the Uchiha clan. Sayuri had told her about the police force of Konoha once, and the name had come up since the Uchiha essentially ran it. "What's your name?"

"My name's Sarutobi Naru," she said a bit awkwardly. Where was she to go with the conversation now?

"You mean like the Hokage?" Sasuke asked, eyes widening.

"Yeah," she answered, a little embarrassed. "He's my grandpa."

"Really? You're the Hokage's granddaughter?" Not by blood, but she didn't need to bring up the fact that she was adopted. "That's so cool!" he said with an amazed look on his face.

It felt weird to suddenly be the center of attention. So she tried changing the topic. "You said your name is Uchiha?"

"Yep!" he puffed out his chest proudly. "We're in charge of the police 'round these parts!"

Naru giggled in response. Sasuke looked annoyed.

"It's not that funny," he complained.

"Yes, it is," she said. "We're in charge of the police 'round these parts!" she mimicked, puffing out her chest like he had.

Sasuke tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably and broke down laughing with Naru.

"Okay, maybe just a little," he admitted.

"Pfft, maybe just a _lot_." She rolled her eyes. "Wanna go play a game with me and my friend? She's right over there." Naru pointed to the game stall.

"All right," Sasuke said with a shrug.

Naru smiled and grabbed his hand and led him toward the booth.

For some reason, Sasuke couldn't keep a small blush from creeping up on his face.

xxx

"Aren't they cute?" Sasuke's mother cooed, standing next to her husband.

"You realize who that was, right, Mikoto?" the man next to her said with a raised brow.

She scowled. "Of course I do, Fugaku!" She then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Give the girl a break, all right? She's my teammate's daughter. The least we can do is not talk about her behind her back like everyone else does." She motioned toward a couple of people that were whispering as the blonde girl passed by, their son in tow. "Besides, it's not like she hurting anyone."

Fugaku looked surprised by his wife's outburst. She was often much more quiet than that. He sighed and nodded.

"Good," she huffed.

xxx

"—and then we played this game where you throw these darts at balloons to try and pop them!" Sasuke explained as he and his parents walked back to the Uchiha compound. His older brother, Itachi, had patrol duty that night, so he hadn't been able to attend the festival.

"It sounds like you had fun with your new friends, Sasuke-kun," Mikoto said with a smile.

"Yeah!" he said enthusiastically. "Tenten-san said she is halfway through her first year at the Academy. She's a year older than Naru-chan and me."

"Naru-_chan_?" his father teased. Mikoto raised a brow. It had been awhile since Fugaku had shown a sense of humor.

She couldn't help but laugh when a blush spread across Sasuke's face.

"It's okay, son. As long as she doesn't mind. You guys are still kids," she giggled.

"Well, she called me 'Sasuke-kun'," he tried to explain. That only served to fuel the laughter, and this time, even Fugaku couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"Looks like someone has a little crush," he teased lightly, only to have Sasuke stare back at him blankly.

He never saw the whack from Mikoto coming.

"Ow."

"Idiot."

xxx

A/N: Not much to say. =/

SPOILERS… maybe?

Response to the past few manga chapters: Am I the only one that feels sorry for the Kyuubi? I mean, I can see why it's always angry. Every time it gets freed, someone else comes along and whips it back into place. Poor Kyuu. D: It just can't win. I almost wish Kishimoto would have left it alone. Before, it was always that "evil demon in Naruto's seal" and stuff. It actually seemed a little scary because we never really got to see it. But no, Kishimoto had to drag the poor guy out of his cage for his annual whipping. He hadn't had it in over sixteen years… guess they're making up for lost time.

SPOILER END

Anyway, sorry about it taking so long to get this chapter up. Thanks for the reviews! Please review this chapter. :D

Till next time,

Zashire


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